Transformation
by Joy1
Summary: (Last Chapter- Continued in Conception now up.) Destiny gave Spike to Buffy and Wolf to Dawn as loves and partners. Now the real transformation begins. This time Destiny is a scary thing. Continuing from The DREAM.
1. Scream

Title: SCREAM!!!

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            A night of destiny had begun at Caritas that evening. Lorn had Spike payback a favor by singing at the club's reopening. Buffy and Dawn were most proud of his talents each having been sung to. The rest of the Scoobies had made the trek to LA to see Spike perform out of support and blackmail. Now that he and Buffy were living together and raising Dawn everyone lightened up on the vamp. A series of prophetic dreams had revealed the Spike's necessity in Buffy's life as well as the arrival of a love and partner for Dawn. 

            Angel Investigations had arrived at the club because they loved Lorn and to support Angel who would sing as well, thought much worse then Spike. Wesley and Gunn vide for Fred's affections while Angel finally got the words out to tell Cordelia how he felt about her…with coaching by Spike. 

            For Dawn's part the evening held the most. She got to tell off Angel for all the evil she did to her family and truly claimed Spike as family in front of the large group of White Hats. Lorn kindly introduced her to her destiny in the form of a teenage boy named Wolf. Wolf was just that…a young shape shifter, with no knowledge of his background. Spike played father to both filling Wolf in on his heritage and setting boundaries with Dawn on dating. These of course had to be broken almost immediately when the PTB made it apparent that Dawn had to be claimed (bitten) by Wolf so that when he was presented to his clan he would already be married in their eyes. 

            The evening had worn on, sending all to their sleeping quarter. Now in the great Hyperion hotel were gathered a large group of Observers to protect them from the impending magiks, spirits and the clan. Lorn entered the hotel when, after several shape shifters he had never seen before entered his club looking for Wolf, he became nervous. 

            A floating translucent being drifted to the floor of the lobby, "They are all here…Begin." At the words all the other beings save five began to illuminate and hum. 

            Lorn heard the sound but couldn't place it…but it was perfect in resonation and pitch soothing him to his soul. Others in the Hyperion didn't have the same reaction.  Upstairs Buffy sat straight up in bed covering her ears screaming at the top of her lungs, as a few rooms away Dawn did the same thing. On the ground floor Connor began to wail bloody murder while Cordelia past out on the floor having attempted to get to the little nipper. 

            Wolf was the first out his door calling for help. Fred went to his aid as quickly as she could. Lorn made his way to Connor and allowed Angel to gather Cordelia into his arms. Spike threw on some boxers and a robe onto Buffy carrying her into the hall. "What the bloody hell is going on?!" Spike shouted loud enough to wake the rest of the occupants of the hotel. 

            The tortured women were carried by their loves to the lobby, while Lorn carried the baby. All the White Hats emerged from their own rooms groggy and completely confused. "What are you doing here Lorn?" Angel yelled over the screams of the Summers women and his son. 

            "I thought something might be wrong so I came over…Looks like I was right," he answered. 

            "Any thoughts on this green guy?" Xander asked from behind him with Anya under his arm. 

            "Connor's little ears are not handling the hum well," Lorn responded. 

            "Hum?" Spike quipped.

            "There's a low hum… Not from TVs or bugs but something…well, unearthly."

            "That helps… How do I make Dawn stop screaming in pain? She doesn't even seem to know I'm here," Wolf fussed. 

            "Why aren't the rest of us effected?" Fred asked. 

            "Hey…I just know there's a hum. I don't know how to make it stop or if we should make it stop, let alone why its only bothering these four," Lorn stated. 

            Tara rubbed her head and said, "Well Buffy and Dawn aren't exactly human and neither is Cordelia. This probably proves that Connor isn't entirely either… You guys aren't probably affected because you have extra sensitive hearing."

            "But so does Cordy," Xander responded. 

            "Not quite," Angel answered. "Her hearing was focused on one voice at a time not multiple like the rest of us. That's probably why she knocked out. The frequency is wrong."

            Wesley being the ever present former watcher, piped up saying, "Buffy and Dawn have Slayer hearing, which isn't as good as Cordy's. I guess Connor has some seriously good hearing too."

            "That's great but how do we make them stop," Spike yelled, "screaming." On the last word the three stopped and were asleep. "Okay what caused that?" he asked. 

            "There's a singer here…" Lorn said looking about the room, "No four…one for each of them… Set the girls down." Lorn laid little sleeping Connor on the sofa in the lobby. The little boy began to coo sweetly and rocked back and forth as if someone was soothing him. 

"A singer?" Gunn asked, while the other men refused to let their women out of their arms. 

"A singer is a spiritual being from the heavenly realm. Most people call them Angels… People tend to classify all heavenly beings the same though they have very different jobs and functions," Anya said with authority. 

"Like Demons," Xander said very proud of himself for connecting the dots.

The group looked at her and him with confusion. "She's right," Lorn said quickly. "Put the girls down. They won't be hurt." Wolf was the first to set his love down on the floor. As soon as he let goof her, Dawn floated up and swayed back and forth. Wolf went to retrieve her, when Lorn caught his arm, "Trust me." The boy nodded.

Fred looked nervous, "Does anyone less find it disturbing that she's being held being held by someone we can't see?" Everyone looked from her then back to Dawn, when with a sudden flash of light a large, mostly translucent man stood before them holding Dawn rocking her back and forth in his arms. 

In a moment a flash in front of Buffy and Cordelia revealed a woman and man each waiting to receive them. Two women sat with Connor, one rocking him the other gazing at him and rubbing his back. Everyone was silent as they looker around to see if other beings were in their midst. A blinding flash brought the leader face to… well…non-face with Wolf. The teenager stared into where its eyes should have been with fear. It cocked its head to the side the way Spike always did. 

Spike passed the sleeping Buffy to the translucent being before him and joined Wolf. With a hand on his back Wolf felt better especially when Lorn joined them on his other side. The leader nodded to the boy and suddenly left. 

Angel gave Cordelia into the arms of the being patiently waiting to receive her. He walked to the sofa his was on. He considered the woman rubbing his son's back. She looked so familiar, like someone he knew years before but just couldn't remember. "I know you," he whispered looking at her. She met his eyes and in a moment it all came back to him. 

Darla terrorized this woman to death, attempting to get her to renounce God. She was a missionary in some country in Europe. She defiantly stared Darla down through all the physical torture, spiritual and emotional torment. Days of this turned into weeks all in front of the people she had helped convert. 

Her last few moments were awful. 'You may kill me, but you will never have my soul.' Darla stuck a knife in the woman's breast and her fangs in the missionary's neck. 'May God have mercy on your soul…May I see your true self in Heaven.' Darla was so disgusted she tore the woman's throat out.  

Angel stared into the missionary's face. "Have you? Have you seen her?" he whispered. 

She shook her head, but pointed to Connor and nodded. The leader appeared at her side quickly. She stared at It for a moment and turned back to Angel with a shamed look and a small smile. The leader disappeared again. 

Angel looked around for some guidance. Fred approached him quietly whispering in his ear, "If she is from Heaven, she should exist outside of time… She is saying Connor makes it to Heaven." Angel fell to his knees and kissed his son's head with tears in his eyes. He looked up at the missionary but she was no longer there. 

All the translucent beings were invisible again, floating the girls and Connor toward Angel's room where the crew looked on. They were laid down like sardines next to each other with Connor in his bassinet. 

Wolf nervously ran his left hand down his right arm to comfort himself, "What now?" 

"Hell if I know," Spike answered him. 

            "Whatever is happening or is about to happen must be very important. Though I don't understand the humming," Wesley said in his very British manner. 

            "Please stop with the Nancy-boy speak and think watcher! This is why you twits are created!" Spike demanded. 

            Angel looked at Lorn, "You said you thought something might be wrong. Why?"

            "A bunch of shape shifters I had never met were trolling for Wolf. I'm assuming they were going by scent because none of them mentioned his name just his description," Lorn responded. 

            "Great… I caused Dawn to scream like that," Wolf moaned. 

            "Alright boy. I've been very supportive up to this point but if every time you find out something about who and what you are that you don't like you decide to bitch and moan we are going to have more then words! Understand!" Spike yelled at the teen. "Now suck it up… Besides those see through things were what made Dawnie scream, right mate?"

            "That's right Wolf," Lorn comforted. 

            "The observers are the ones humming," Anya commented. 

            Willow looked at her wearily, "For an ex-vengeance demon you know a lot about these 'Angels'."

            "I've lived longer then any of you. I should know more about this plain and others." 

            "How old are you?" Gunn asked curious of the blunt woman mainly concealed by her fiancée rather then clothes.

            "Not important, mate!" Spike snapped looking at the demon hunter. "I realize that the brilliant stick over there didn't fall screaming to make this important to you, but if you don't mind my lady did." Gunn and Fred's eyes met but so did Wesley's. "Oh great the bloody watcher is in on this too… I'm sorry to distract the three of you from what ever strange love triangle you've got going here but Wesley I need you to work this out!" Spike begged. 

            "Hey, Hey," Lorn said calmly. "Anyanka gave us the name… They're called the observers but they're acting. Two different heavenly beings are here doing something… That's a good thing."

            "Actually its not," Anya said entering the room more fully, having grabbed Xander's robe to cover herself. "If the singers and the observers are here and acting, that means something pretty nasty and is heading our way. The humming thing is a spiritual barrier, not unlike the one you have at your club…except that it's rarely constructed on the earth, let alone to protect people like us."

            "What do you mean?" Willow asked.

            "Two vampires, a …whatever the boy is…, a couple of demons, an ex-demon, and a bunch of human's that are anything but innocent. Not even a slayer gets this sort of protection," Anya finished.

            "But a key would," Wolf said quickly.

            "But she doesn't open anything anymore," Xander commented.

            "Key?" Fred asked Gunn and Wesley. 

            "I'm sure we'll be filled in later," Wes said quietly as to not disturb the conversation.

            "Not true," Lorn said. "With Wolf, Dawn can open several things."

            "Okay… Why do you allow him to date her, bleach boy?" Xander snapped angrily at Spike.

            "Prophecies and Destiny… We all know it doesn't work to run from them, Whelp!" Spike snapped back. 

            "Explain the Key thing please," Wesley said having traveled to office. 

            Spike moved to the watcher, "Dawn is actually an ancient energy that was made into a human form by some monks to be used for good, and sent to be protected by the slayer. However, there was a Bitch of a Hell God that wanted to go home. She had a fancy ritual to use Dawn's blood as a KEY to get her there. Once she started bleeding it wouldn't stop until Dawn died. Thus being why my love took a high dive into a big pool of cosmic energy, so her sister wouldn't have to die… Clear enough for you!" 

Spike's normal smirk was dancing on his lips. Xander, Willow, Tara and Anya all smirked and smiled at the Vampires general audacity and compression of information. "You are so good at that Dead Boy!" Xander commented.

"Hey that was my nickname! He was Dead Boy, Jr. or Bleach boy or…" Angel said before he realized how disturbing it was that he wanted to keep his 'pet' name amongst the Scoobies. 

The room erupted in laughter breaking the tension a bit. "I didn't realize you fancied the name so much, Peaches," Spike looked at him like he was about to pounce. "I thought you always preferred my pet names for you."

"Enough lechery between vampires. You may not have issues with blending the sexual lines, but I do!" Xander fussed. Willow cleared her throat drawing his attention to her and Tara. "Sorry… That's normal," he waved his hand at them, "That's not!" he waved toward the vampires who glanced at each other then stalked toward the carpenter.

"Don't knock it till you try it," Spike said as he came toward Xander's front, who backed up but Angel had started to circle toward his back. 

"Angel!" Wesley snapped getting his attention back to the task at hand. "Seduce the boy later." 

Angel looked at Spike over Xander's shoulder and laughed. He soon met the shocked faces of his younger employees and stopped laughing. Spike laughed even louder at that. "Now you know why I call him Peaches," he said wagging his eyebrows. 

"What was that you said about distraction from a love triangle?" Wesley shot at him. Gunn and Fred laughed at that. 

"Fine… What have you found in that bloody book?" the blonde said leaning on the counter. 

"I found a prophecy a few days ago that didn't make a lot of sense, that I think may apply now," Wesley said nonchalantly. "The… I think it would be translated Ether…will rise and fall… at the paw or claw… of the… I'm not sure about what it should be here…"

Spike grabbed the book and scanned the words and grabbed the translation book next to Wesley. "What is he doing?" Gunn asked.

"Spike was always an academic…" Angel answered. 

"I used to keep one minion around to do translation so I didn't look like a Nancy-boy in front of the rest," Spike said from the book. "Wolf go get the book I was looking at with you earlier."

"Minions?" Fred asked.

Willow piped up, "Oh yeah, he was a real bad ass. Killed the anointed one right after he arrived in Sunnydale and killed two slayers before Buffy."

"Yeah, never could kill Buffy," Xander said with a smile. 

"Always wanted into her knickers… Besides she was way too much fun… Who could resist that wonderful smart ass of mine?" Spike said still searching the contents of the book. "The only man in this room who didn't fall under her spell was watcher boy over there because he was to busy getting a stiffy over Queen C."

"I knew you had a thing for Buffy," Anya punched Xander's arm. 

"Queen C?" Fred asked.

Xander rubbed his arm and answered as Wolf gave the book to Spike, "That was Cordelia's license plate in high school."

Gunn and Fred began to gaffe. "You had a thing for Cordelia?" Gunn asked. "She was in high school man… Jailbait even."

"Hey!" Wes fumed. "Ancient history." Gunn continued to smirk. "We danced at her Prom that's it." Angel cleared his throat, "Fine and a kiss but that's it… I didn't make you going into detail about your…relationship with Spike did I?" Wesley directed at Angel. 

"Age appropriate material," Tara nodded toward Wolf. 

"Thanks for the concern, but this whole evening is beyond weird already," the teen responded. 

Spike let out a loud frustrated growl. "Hey- Observers…" Spike started yelling at the room. "Its not cool to knock out our seer before we find out about something like this, mates," he said waving the book in his hand. 

"What's up?" Wolf asked.

He looked the boy in the eye, "Ya know how everyone keeps saying you're in for some big destiny and crap like that… Well, they're not exaggerating…" In a moment the leader arrived again as did several other translucent beings none with faces. They surrounded Wolf, floating him up to the center of the lobby. "Keep breathing!" Spike shouted.

Wind, rain, and bursts of light cocooned the teenager as his body bucked. And then… the SCREAM!

TBC…

            __


	2. Transformation

Title: Transformation

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            The whirlwind that surrounded Wolf's body stripped him of his clothes throwing the tattered garments to the floor. Spike looked on, willing the boy to survive for Nibblet's sake.

            "What's happening Spike?" Lorn snapped the blonde vamp back to the other occupants of the lobby. Wolf's cries became only whimpers.

            "He's transforming," he said quietly.

            "Into what?" Anya asked.

            "Not quite sure," Spike said never taking his eyes off the boy. "Someone get a bathrobe or towels that can be bled on."

            "Why?" Tara asked.

            "That!" Xander said as blood started dripping from Wolf's body. 

            Wolf's shoulders and shoulder blades began to shift and push through the skin. He screamed as the tip of one large piece of cartilage broke the skin violently and pushed through two feet. Another yell erupted from his body as symmetrical piece of cartilage from his other shoulder. Two of the faceless creatures guided each piece out further. In the end it looked kind of like spider legs the way they hinge at the joint. 

"What does the translation say?" Wesley asked Spike.

"The Ether will rise and fall at the claw of the…jackal. Life and death are in the hands of the key to Dawn… Guess the monks picked her name carefully," he gave a pathetic laugh. 

Wesley grabbed the books and began to continue to search the passage, "You didn't finish it. There's more."

"Cross that bridge later mate. Now we worry for the boy," Spike answered.

Wesley began to recite, "And the Ether and the Nothing will be open…"

"Later," the blonde vamp insisted.

The watcher went on, "The seventh of seven…"

Angel's head shot over to look at Spike, "That's about you!" Spike said nothing. Angel growled, "What are you holding out on us?"

Spike turned around and snarled in full demonic form, "I'm not… It's not important… The boy is important."

"Spike this passage is dealing with eternal life and death… I'd say that's important," Wesley said calmly.

Spike began to snarl worse. With Buffy and Dawn out like lights, he felt that he had no one to turn to. The snarling and growling gained momentum. The blood on the floor plus the feeling of being trapped set in. 

Tara cautiously approached the barely in control vamp as did Lorn. She looked him in the face with his flashing yellow eyes and smiled, taking a bit of the edge off. Lorn gave him a serious look. Tara took the opportunity to create a barrier between them and the rest of the lobby members. 

"What'd you just do?" Xander asked wearily.

"I made it so that they could talk without the rest of us listening in. Despite all his posturing and big mouthedness, he actually does appreciate his privacy," Tara looked at Angel sweetly. "For a man that lived with him as long as you did, I'd have thought you would be better at the communication thing with him."

The hour of the night removed Xander's inhibitions. "Wait you're forgetting, Angel was Angelus then. Not really one for being understanding, were ya big fella? Just would have pummeled him till he talked, right? Part of the whole psycho stalker compulsive vampire syndrome you had going there," Xander said with a coy grin. "You wanted information from Giles so you tortured to an inch of his life. What was your famous quote? Something about not having done a good torture in a long time. I still say Giles had amazing restraint in not killing you later. But hey you spent a hundred years in hell to pay penance."

Angel looked at Xander with angry eyes. "Never going to let it go are you Harris?"

"Not in this lifetime. You may have been back and helped, so we had to deal with you, but when you took off, I don't think one of us was sorry you were gone… It killed Buffy for a while, but after you left she wanted you to stay gone," Xander answered honestly. 

Angel looked to Willow for sympathy. "Sorry, he's right. We were glad to see you go for Buffy's sake… And for me, personally I was happy about possibly being able to have another pet… Opening a drawer to find your fish hung on a string then finding out your favorite teacher was dead has a tendency to stick with you."

"That's all you remember?" Angel said exasperated. 

"We had to rely on you. What other option did we have?" Willow pled. "We can know you're doing amazing stuff out here and we can kind of be proud of you for that. But don't ask us to want you back, not when we know that you've been screwing up here too." This time her speech was clipped. "We can joke and enjoy each other's company from a distance and occasionally in person… more then that will tend to bring out the bad stuff… like now."

Fred cleared her throat, "We're very proud of you Angel." Gunn and Wesley looked at one another and said nothing. "Guys?"

"History…" Gunn said simply. "I got one too." He wouldn't meet Angel's eyes though. 

"I don't believe this…" Angel snapped and stormed into the room where his son lay. He sat down next to Connor's rocking bassinet. "Spike was just as awful as I was…" he fumed. Suddenly the dark haired missionary appeared in front of him as he sat. 

Spike and Lorn tapped at the barrier, which Tara removed quickly. "Where's Angel?" Spike grumbled. Tara pointed to the room Angel sulked off to. 

"What's up?" Lorn asked as the blonde vamp went to see his grand sire. 

"Willow and Xander did a good job of shaming Angel into the ground," Anya stated looking back up at Wolf. The boy lay motionless as he continued to be surrounded storm. The bones protruding from his back now had sharp points coming off of them. "Guys?" Anya called.

Lorn looked up. "Aristotle's flying fox."

            "Huh?" Gunn grunted in confusion. 

            "The Egyptian's picture it as a jackal with wings…**_Xex._** Other cultures have linked the transforming wolves to vampires," Anya muttered. "There hasn't been one on earth in six hundred years… Look at his wings!" she said excitedly. 

            The other people in the room turned their attention back to Wolf. He looked like he was sleeping as the bony wings were stretched out to there full span. A leathery covering coated the bones in slick wet substance. It was kind of like watching a bird hatch as the wings twitched and moved. The faceless beings ran translucent hands over the bones, skin, and 'feathers'. 

            Spike entered the room watching Angel stare at the wall. He was focused on one spot on the wallpaper. Spike considered him a moment. "Peaches," he snapped. Nothing. "Poofter." Silence. "Angel!" Spike shook him. 

            "Darla was right," he muttered. "Connor is the only thing good that ever came from us together…" Angel turned his face to Spike. "And even then it was awful… I didn't care if I lost my soul. I didn't care that I was raping her. I didn't care." Spike just stared at him. "Xander and Willow just told me how glad they were that I left town…" With a defeated smirk he said, "Guess Dawn wasn't the only one holding resentment against me, huh?"

Watching Angel suffer made Spike reluctantly sink down next to his grand sire. He gritted his teeth and spoke, "Angel… What's the Ether?" Angel looked at him in confusion. "It's the place that souls hang out while we inhabit these bodies, right?" Angel nodded. "The passage continued to make reference to giving me my soul because of the stupid order I came in our blood line… It's not something I'm really fond of thinking about or considering especially while Buffy is under. Anyway the good news to you is we can chain you to the wall and get rid of the curse…then give you your soul without the bloody happiness clause." 

            The two vampires sat there and stared at one another. Angel didn't know what to say. Spike clucked his tongue a couple times to relieve the tension he was feeling. "I wouldn't Spike," he mumbled softly. "She will always be a part of me and I'm not sure I can give that up, but its very apparent that I would be less then welcome on the Hellmouth, let only its an awful place to raise a kid. Besides my feelings for Cordelia are strong and I do have a life here. I am making a difference… At least normally it feels that way." He let out a shallow laugh, "Only Fred came to my defense… she's hasn't been around long enough to see me screw up."

            Spike got annoyed with Angel quickly, "Not giving me much reason to think this whole soul business is a good idea, Peaches… I swear you would be a lot better off trying to…embrace…your demon side for your son's sake. He's gonna have a complex over all the brooding you do…'the sky is falling' crap isn't healthy for a nipper… Nibblet doesn't need to know how bad money troubles are in Sunnyhell. She has very few stable things in her life…losing the house shouldn't be a new worry."

            Connor floated into the transparent arms of the missionary also in the room. She walked him around and singing. Both vampires could hear her song. She sang softly Amazing Grace to the little boy. Each could recall memories of the song in their lives. It was much more peaceful than it had ever sounded before…almost soothing. She looked at both men and smiled.

            The sound of Fred whimpering brought them out of the bedroom. Fred had her head buried in Gunn's chest while Wesley looked up curiously. Wolf's covering fluctuated between a fine fur and bloodied skin. The faceless beings aided his body in transforming from man to beast a few times, helping to adjust his wings to which size he was. "Did anyone get that robe?" Spike asked the group. 

            Fred looked at him and said, "I'll go get towels."

            Spike stopped her before she ran up the steps. "What's wrong luv? I'm sure you've seen far worse things."

            "I'm used to seeing demons change shape but they don't look like us. Vampires' faces change but this is a full body transformation… Bones weren't meant to do that," Fred said softly.

            "Shape shifters are made to change shape. He's not whimpering is he," Spike tried to sooth her.

            "That's because he's unconscious," the brown eyes fixed on blue.

            Spike stood directly in front of the out stretched body hanging in mid air. "BOY!" he shouted. "You can't die now… LilBit won't get to say goodbye. That will royally piss her off." Wolf made a sound like pushing air out of his lungs in one big blow. "You better suck that air right back in your lungs or I'M going to be pissed!" Wolf snorted. "You laughing at me now? That's something."

            Angel shuffled Fred upstairs to retrieve some things to help Wolf. Gunn went with her to stead her steps. Wesley went to the supply closet on the main level to retrieve rubbing alcohol and some other disinfectants. Tara went into her room to get some herbs and tea as well as her fleece blanket. "Hun, the little fuzzies might get caught in his cuts," Willow said softly. 

            "He's healing rapidly. I think by the time we get him wiped and dried he'll be fine in the comfy blanket," Tara responded. Willow looked at her with awe and love causing Tara to blush slightly.

Wesley brought out utility towels to mop up the floor below Wolf. Lorn and Spike kept their eyes on the boy. "Last hard part," Spike yelled up. 

"Why? What's hard?" Angel asked.

"Got to pull the wings back inside his skin," Lorn responded. 

"I'll be in the office," Fred said handing all the items in her arms to Gunn. 

"Fred," Wesley spoke quietly, "You understand so much about insects, biology, and the other sciences, why not take a look."

Stiff upper lip in places she did take a step closer. She stood to the side so she could see his back and side rather then face. Wolf's wings flattened and began to roll toward the center of his back. He grimaced as his skin split to accommodate his new appendages. As his wings drew back inside his body, Wolf was slowly lowered to the floor. His legs gave out but Spike and Lorn were there to catch him.

"Gunn," Lorn called to bring towels.

"Hey man… I'll grab you some of my clothes," Gunn said as he passed the towels to Spike, Lorn and Fred who set out to clean the boy up. As Gunn returned, Fred finished patching Wolf's back. "Here ya go. You can keep the drawers."

Wolf half smiled, "Thanks man." He was exhausted, but turned to Spike to ask, "What just happened to me?"

Anya walked up to him with a big smile and said, "You are a descendent of Anubis. You are the Xex, very rare."

"In English?" he asked.

"That was English," Anya answered looking confused.

Spike coaxed the sweatshirt over Wolf's head, "Once every few hundred years, a prophecy has to be fulfilled and a Xex, as she put it, is created. Can't get much better then that till Wesley does with the booking." Spike gave him an arm to get him to a bathroom to finish changing.

Lorn began to creep his head around looking from side to side. "The humming has stopped," he said casually.

"What does that mean for us?" Willow asked. 

"The barrier is complete…" Anya stated looking around herself. 

"What about the girls?" Xander asked. 

"The singers have yet to desist," Lorn said robotically. 

Connor floated out of Angel's bedroom. "That gives me the hebbie jebbies," Xander startled as the baby went by. 

The dark haired women sat down on the sofa in the lobby, motioning Angel over to her. She placed Connor in his arms and kissed his cheek. For a moment their eyes locked. Soundlessly she said, "I forgive you." Floods of memories came through his brain. He saw himself rape the woman before him, eating an infant to bring pain on its mother, killing Holst's family, killing Jenny. "We all forgive you," woman whispered changing from face to face. Angel gulped a few times and couldn't speak, cry, or scream. He had no response. She kissed his head again and vanished.

"The singers stopped," Lorn informed them. 

"Take him," Angel ordered Fred who confusedly responded. All faces turned to see the great champion fleeing down the stairs. 

"What's wrong with him now?" Spike asked coming back into the room.

"Nothing…" Gunn said. "He was sitting there, got Connor placed in his arms, look terrified, and then ran off."

"Bloody Hell!" Spike growled. "How many times in one night can I be expected to fix him?" Spike turned quickly back to Gunn. "Was the brown haired chick the one that gave him the baby?"

"Yes," Wesley said calmly. "Why?"

"Darla and Peaches tortured her to death, if memory serves. I don't do missionaries," Spike grumbled as he went after Angel. 

Downstairs Angel was pummeling a punching bag, when Spike found him. "Mate, you respond just like Buffy… You hurt, you pummel. No wonder you didn't work out."

"What do you want?" Angel growled.

"I want to know why you aren't upstairs waiting for your lady and son to wake?" 

"Can't handle it right now."

"Do you know the abandonment issues your son's going to have before his first birthday? That kid doesn't need you to flake when it gets hard. You've done this for a hundred years… It hurts or its too hard and you bail. Guess what? You can't do that with a kid. Now get your ass upstairs and be the one he first sees when he wakes up!" Spike ordered.

            Spike turned around to march back up when Angel finally spoke, "She said she forgave me… That they forgave me..."

            "Shouldn't that be a good thing mate?"

            Angel sighed, "I've had visions like this before… They've never forgiven me. They've always haunted me… Jenny came to me to talk me into to being evil, now she says she forgives me. I was going insane then…I can't afford to be losing it now."

            Spike gritted his teeth, "I saw her too remember? I remember her from before. I doubt if you were going insane it would extend to me!" Angel took unneeded breaths. "Angel, sort it out later. You have people who need you now!" 

Up the stairs he stomped not caring if the wuss followed or not. "Give me the baby," Spike demanded. Fred handed Connor over to the vamp. Spike pricked his finger on his momentarily extended fang and let a drop of blood appear and put it near the baby's face. 

"What are you doing?" Willow fussed at his actions.

"This kid is Angel's with advanced hearing and such. What you want to bet the smell of blood will get his attention?" Spike replied. Connor's eyes opened and flickered with joy. It took him no time to suckle on his 'Uncle's finger. 

Everyone stared wide eyed at the sight before them, except of course Lorn, who just snickered. "Man, I could have saved myself unneeded frustration by just dipping into Angel's supply… Why didn't I think of that?"

"Why didn't you think of what?" Angel asked seeing his son awake and in the arms of Spike thankfully. 

"Your nipper is a nipper… Look at him, trying to take William's finger apart at his first taste of blood… Like father like son," Lorn cooed. 

"What?!!" Angel yelled.

"Relax… I used the smell of the blood to wake him up. He started sucking on my finger all on his own," Spike defended his actions. 

"Its true," Fred commented shyly. 

Angel abruptly took Connor from Spike. Connor however wasn't done with Spike's finger. "Hey…Let go," the bleached one said when his nephew continued to lock his jaw down. 

"Just pull it out," Angel ordered. 

"And how am I going to do that without gushing more blood?" Spike quipped.

Angel took his son and looked at him firmly, "Let him go!"

"Oh that's going to help so much," Spike sarcastically remarked rolling his eyes. 

"Why don't I get his pacifier and cover the nipple in blood?" Lorn suggested.

"No more blood!" Angel thundered.

"Once again with the not embracing demon side. That will hinder your son's growth," the blonde huffed. 

Frustrated Angel pulled Spike by way of Connor into his bedroom. Wolf followed in Gunn's oversized clothes. Willow leaned into Xander, "When did Spike start talking like a demon therapist?"

"Bout the same time Buffy started to give it to him regularly," Xander responded. 

"Maybe the key to calming down all Vampires demon side is to find someone for them to have lots of sex with. It definitely helps to suppress my homicidal issues," Anya piped up.

"Do you think before you speak?" Gunn asked shaking his head.

TBC… No cliffhanger… Just started getting too long for one chapter. 


	3. Waking

Title: Waking Beauties

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

A/N: Warning: I didn't really use classic mythology on **dhampires**. I've created my own mythology that will be fleshed out later. 

            Angel was still furious with Spike about feeding his son blood, but secretly was more disturbed at how much his little man liked it. "Stop it," Spike fussed at Connor. "Get your tongue out of the cut, now."

            "What's going on now?" Wolf asked. 

            "Nipper has decided to make the cut bigger with his little tongue," his uncle explained. Angel had Connor on his shoulder with Spike directly at his back because Connor was gnawing on his finger. When he drew his jaw up some to clamp back down harder on the digit, Spike pulled his finger out quickly. 

            Connor cried bloody murder because his chew toy was gone, he had bitten down hard on nothing so his gums hurt, and there was no more blood. Cordelia's eyes fluttered open to see what was wrong with Connor. 

            "Buffy," Dawn nudged, "the baby's crying. Make it stop." Wolf quickly retrieved Dawn from the bed and curled her into his arms sitting back in a chair. She sleepily looked up at him and said, "Whose clothes are you wearing?" Wolf smiled and rocked her back and forth as she yawned. 

            Angel leaned down and kissed Cordelia lightly. "Connor's hungry," she mumbled. Angel nodded his head slowly. "There's a bottle in the fridge," Cordelia said in exhaustion. 

            "That's not what he wants," Spike said as he curled up facing Buffy on the bed attempting to rouse her. 

            "Huh?" Cordy asked confusedly. 

            Wolf spoke up saying, "He likes blood. You have a regular Little Shop of Horrors kid there." Angel and Cordy looked at him wildly. "He's grown at least an inch and a half since he drank from Spike… Nifty new feature to this whole weird transformation thing."

            "I say again, huh?"

            Angel sat down next to Cordelia, "You were knocked out. Some things have changed and some things still need to be worked out."

            "Like him having wings and changing into a wolf and such?" Cordy asked taking Connor into her arms. Wolf's eyes went big. "I'm a seer kid. It saw it while I was sleeping." Wolf nodded. 

            Buffy was attempting to devour Spike's mouth as she swung one leg over his hip and one hand down his front. Buffy began to moan into Spike's lips when Dawn mumbled, "Don't worry. She does this every morning…Its how she wakes up now. I suggest we leave before things become too graphic and Spike starts to whimper." Everyone stared at the teenage girl with her eyes still closed. 

            Angel was not about to let Spike and Buffy have sex on his bed. He physically moved Spike to a sitting position, which caused Buffy to instinctively wrap both legs around Spike's middle. Angel hoisted Spike, who was completely oblivious, off the bed carrying Buffy to the bathroom. "Have fun," was all Angel said before dumping them on to the floor.

            Dawn was now mostly awake but still curled into Wolf's chest. "Wise choice. They shouldn't take long though; Buffy thinks its morning. At night is when you have to worry," she said with a yawn. "They tried pillows at the headboard, a piece of Styrofoam, and even another mattress. I finally made them promise to have sex on the floor so their bed wouldn't be smashing against my wall… They should be heading for the shower soon." The sounds of water being turning on, grunts and groans soon filled the room. "They are nothing if not predictable in the morning…Buffy likes it that way… It certainly makes my life easier to know when to open a door and when not to."

            "That is just disturbing!" Cordelia forcefully. 

            Willow stuck her head in to see how everyone was doing. "How ya doing Dawnie?" 

            "Fine… Buffy's on her normal schedule," Dawn said pointing to the bathroom. 

            Willow smirked, "How far are they?"

            "She's at two, he's still holding back," she said with a laugh. 

            "So is this a three to one morning or a five to one morning?" Willow commented. 

            "I'm betting on the tired factor. You?"

            "No… I think the worry will win out."

            Suddenly there was a high-pitched squeal that made Wolf cover his ears followed by a deep growl followed behind. "Dawn wins again. Same bat time, same bat channel tomorrow Will?" Dawn asked. 

Willow laughed and nodded. "When we play again 'How…Many… Orgasms!'" By now Willow and Dawn were rolling. "We should probably get out of here before we have to deal with Buffy singing," Willow suggested. 

            Dazed by what conspired, Angel retrieved Connor from Cordelia's arms and left the room. Cordelia shook her head and went to say something but then shut up. Dawn climbed out of Wolf's lap and led him back into the lobby to allow Buffy and Spike a few minutes to get themselves together. 

            Connor was still crying when Angel came back into the room. Lorn had his bottle warmed and ready for the little prince. Angel tried to feed him, but Connor didn't want it. "Angel," Lorn said softly. "I know you were all stoked about Connor being fully human, but I think its time to face facts."

            "What facts would those be?" Angel growled. 

            Spike was standing in front of him drying his hair. Buffy was slipping upstairs in only a towel, clothes balled up in her hand. Angel looked from her to him, listening to Buffy hum. "I never made her hum," Angel thought to himself. 

            "The fact you aren't facing, Peaches, is your son is a Dhampire," Spike said firmly. 

            "You don't know that," Angel insisted.

            Spike strutted past him and grabbed a pack of blood from the fridge. He tore open the pouch and held it near Connor. The baby started to fidget, drooling actively, and sticking his tongue out toward the package. "We know that!" the blonde said firmly. "Thus being why you need to lighten up over what you are so your kid doesn't think he's a complete failure over not being entirely human." Angel set his jaw. Spike dipped his finger into the packet, covering it with blood. He offered it to Connor. The child looked at Spike adoringly as he suckled at his uncle's finger. "Feed your son Angel. It'll do you both some good."

            Buffy popped her head out the door of her and Spike's room, "Do I have to slay anything?"

            "Not right now," Spike called back.

            "What time is it?" 

            "Five a.m. luv."

            "'kay," Buffy called down. 

"You two are way too domestic," Cordelia said blanketly as she made coffee. "So who do I talk to about my vision?"

            "ME too?" Dawn piped up.

            "What'd ya see Nibblet?" Spike asked.

            "Hey… I'm the professional," Cordy objected.

            "And she's the key," Willow said with a yawn. "Her visions are like Buffy's. You don't pay attention, they squish you like a bug." Gunn and Fred looked at one another. "Am I still needed or can I go back to sleep, bright eyes?"

            "I didn't see you… How bout you Cordelia?" Dawn asked. 

            "No…" she said slightly defensively.

"Right then. You take care of my girls," Willow said to Spike who nodded. "By the way your performance this morning was less then stellar."

            "I had no sleep!" Spike defended. "You're not playing that stupid…"

            "Spike… We never stopped," Willow said as she walked into her room. 

            Dawn laughed to her hearts content. "Willow's just mad that I won this morning… I banked on the tired factor." The frustrated look on his face disappeared when she kissed him on the tip of his nose. "I should probably change." Dawn grabbed Wolf's hand to come with her. 

            "Where do you think you're taking the boy?" Spike snapped.

            "With me," Dawn said plainly.

            Spike put a hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "He is staying right here. You don't need him to dress… You've managed the skill without him just fine so far. Baggy clothes are fine, you may actually get to rest in the afternoon but you won't be in the same bed. GOT IT!" Spike stared her down.

            "She gets the picture," Buffy said from the stairs. "Go change…be back in five minutes and Wolf's lap will still be warm."

            "Fine," Dawn pouted and raced up the stairs. 

            "Is my life going to be this way from now on?" Wolf asked meekly.

            Buffy and Spike laughed. "Yes son, it will. Good news- we'll always be there with you. Bad news- we will always be there with you," Spike snickered. 

            "Leave him alone… Yeah Wolf, your life isn't really your own anymore. Good thing is you have a big family of strangers now. And you have a…" Buffy said waving her hand upstairs.

            "Wife," Spike smirked.

            Buffy glared at him, "We aren't starting this conversation again!" Spike continued to smirk. "It is everyone's best interest not to question me with this," she said scanning the group left over in the lobby. Feeling the need to snap at someone she turned on Fred, "Why are you still up?" She paused realizing how rude she sounded. "I'm sure your exhausted… Wait your good with translation. Stay…better translation is a good thing."

            Wesley eyed Gunn, "Charles, why don't you get some sleep? WE can handle it from here."

            Gunn glared back at him, "No thanks… The rest of our team is up. I'll stay up too. Besides I have breakfast with Fred every morning, this morning will be no exception." Fred looked back and forth between the men and swallowed hard. 

Angel's tense employees went into the office searching through different texts to figure out what would be hitting and when. All books were laid out in a line along the counter so they could remain part of the discussions. "Alright then," Angel grumbled toward his employees. "Why don't you tell us what you saw?" he asked Cordelia over Connor's screaming.

            By now Spike's impatience with Angel's handling of Connor, due to his volume since the child was still hollering like nobody's business, led him to heat a packet of blood. It appeared that the blood was for him until the contents were put into a bottle. "Why don't you give your son what he needs so he'll quit crying?" Spike said putting the bottle in Connor's mouth. "Feed your son Angel. Bond or whatever, but do it now. I'm getting a non-chip related migraine." Spike handed the bottle over to Angel, "So Queen C what'd ya see?" 

Flustered she began, "Lots of glowy people were hovering around us and I think still are… Wolf did his little wing act in the lobby…then I saw hundreds of glowing eyes outside the door. That's it."

Spike was unimpressed. "Nibblet," he yelled. "Need your info, luv."

"I'm coming," she said descending the stairs wearing too tight clothes and not enough of a shirt.

"Hell No!" the blonde fussed. "Get your ass right back up those stairs before I start thinking parochial school is a good idea!"

"Cut with the swearing!" Buffy said as she pinched Spike, whispering in his ear, "I wore worse at her age."

"That's right she did!" Dawn chimed in. 

"Hey! Trying to get you off the hook. Not the time to be using the super hearing." Buffy silenced her sister as Spike glared and nodded toward Wolf. She sighed, "Go change." Wolf was a good guy but the way his knees were bouncing with excitement at the sight of Dawn.

"This isn't fair! At my age you wore worse, killed stuff, AND blew up a gym. I just want to wear something fun."

"Dawn, I will speak to you about this upstairs," Spike said very clipped approaching the stairs. 

"No! Buffy got to go out unchaperoned all the time, wear what ever she wanted and got to have sex when she fell in love. Why don't I get the same?" Dawn stomped her foot. 

Angel Investigations just stood and watched the display of the temper tantrum and fatherly frustration. Spike's face turned from frustrated to a sardonic smile in a moment. He spoke in the calm manner that reminded everyone that he was a killer, "Joyce, God rest her soul, didn't know what was out there and didn't realize that her daughter was turning on not just live boys but dead vampires as well. As for her having sex," Spike paused turning his attention to Angel and back again, "We all know how badly that turned out. So this argument is officially over." Dawn trudged up the stairs. "Dawn," Spike called. "You didn't want to dress that way before you met Wolf, so I expect it's not necessary now. We can talk about this at home when things aren't so stressed and you haven't just been claimed into a wolf clan."

Wolf sat nervously on the sofa as Spike paced back and forth finally sitting next to the boy. Timidly Wolf suggested, "Maybe I should tell Dawn I don't like that style of clothing…A little too tempting." Spike was ready to kiss the kid for his efforts.

Angel looked at Spike and Wolf seeing the potential for he and Connor to still have a normal father son relationship. The baby lay in his arms looking at him with such love and happiness that Angel didn't mind that his son was drinking blood from his bottle. 

"How's it going Dad? Getting used to the idea?" Lorn asked softly.

"Yeah… I guess… I just wanted him to have all the benefits of being human."

"But he's not. He's got some things that are just like you," Lorn offered. "Ahhh I'm going to look for a larger jumper for him."

"Why?" Cordelia asked. 

"This one is busting at the seams," Lorn said and headed for Angel's room.

"Oh my God," Cordelia gasped as Connor grew another few inches and pushed out of his outfit. "What's happening?"

"You've been feeding him only milk when he also needed blood," Spike commented. "He's probably in a growth spurt because he's now getting what he needs."

"Babies don't grow that fast," Fred said wearily.

"But Dympires do," Lorn answered bringing a shirt that early in the evening was too big now was a perfect fit. Connor's face got rounder and his whole body took on more baby fat. "There's my little man. You have such chubby cheeks. Yes you do!" he cooed

Dawn bounded down the stairs again. "Violet glowy eye guys outside coming to take Connor, who is now the size of a six month old. How'd that happen in five minutes?"

"The blood seems to be growing him up," Wolf explained. Dawn was wearing a soft purple sweater that was very petable. He leaned into her ear and said, "I like this look better anyway. Soft is good." Dawn bit her lip.

"Continue Bit," Spike instructed, to disengage the impending kissage.

"Oh…right… The barrier outside will protect us for now… The dream was broken up in parts… One of the glowing sets of eyes I saw outside belonged to a wolf using the baby as a distraction, not really caring about the baby, to get to Wolf… I saw that the sun rose and the clan were waiting to make us members. The wolf in disguise sat ready to kill us to prevent something from happening. Then a big light erupted as Wolf and I held hands. I saw Spike fighting with the wolf and the eruption knocked them both off balance. There became a line in the air that was white and black and nothing else," Dawn said staring off into space as she put together the images she saw. Wolf pulled her back in his arms. 

Buffy cleared her throat "The only addition I would make to that is the eruption knocked us all on our asses except Dawn and Wolf. But I know it was okay because I heard the singers again… And I knew we're bond in some way to one another." 

"Well, I feel useless," Cordelia muttered feeling her vision was small by comparison to the Summers' women.

Angel leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Never."

Connor took that moment to gnaw on the nipple of his bottle. "Da…Da…"

Spike smiled, "Say Will." Connor looked at him and laughed out right. "You thing that's funny? How about this?" Spike made his eyes glow yellow. Connor laughed more and mimicked his eyes. "Bloody Hell!" he shouted. "Did you see that?"

Cordelia nodded as did Angel the same. He stared into his son's face and smiled. Connor smiled back. "Papa…" he instructed quietly. Connor flashed his eyes again and laughed. "He just found a new game to play with Papa and Uncle Spike," Angel said sweetly loving his son that much more for his childlike acceptance of himself and his father. 

TBC…. Lots of set up for explanations of Connor's growth, Wolf's wings, and the entrance of the eyes outside.


	4. Orbit

Title: Love's orbit

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            The Angel's group was left to while away the early morning hours each taking different parts of the prophecy and translation. Things had really just settled down. Wesley, Fred and Gunn studied together trying to concentrate rather then think about the discussions they would have to have when this was over. Spike and Buffy sized up Angel's stock of weapons in the armory, and Dawn and Wolf cuddled on the sofa.

            "A can't believe one man has this many swords of different varieties," Buffy stated looking for something she to handle well twirling two swords. 

            "You know what they say about men who feel inferior in the bedroom," Spike said smoothly without a hint of sarcasm. "Try to adapt in other ways… And damn I say Angel's feeling inferior." He commented wide-eyed at the arsenal he was seeing. "I hope my theory will work?" he said absent-mindedly.

            "I love you but WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Buffy looked at him completely confused. "You set up a perfect burst on Angel and you didn't take. In fact you seemed worried and you used his actual name… You never do that!" Spike continued to look around the armory. "Hello… I'm talking to you! What was that last bit about your theory? What THEORY?!" she demanded. 

            "There they are!" Spike said holding some chains.

            "We are not getting a happy right now!" Buffy huffed. 

            Spike turned and smiled at her lecherously, "No but I'll think about that for tomorrow night…or would it be tonight." He cocked his head to one side as if considering it. Buffy got right in his face frustrated over lack of understanding. His far off look faded when he pinned her to a wall with his body. 

            They stood face to face as Spike ran his hands gently down Buffy's body. "We need to get back upstairs…" she said breathily. 

  
            "I know… But I feel my performance this morning was lacking," Spike said pressing her firmly against the wall, body-to-body so she could feel his arousal. His manner changed abruptly becoming soft and gentle. "Besides we were into our routine before I got to tell you how much it pained my to have you screaming like you were afraid or hurt… Then you stopped and made no noise at all. You weren't there… My Slayer was some place else… again," he mumbled as an after thought. 

            Buffy looked at him curiously. "You're afraid of something," she whispered. 

            "They were heavenly beings making you comfy. I didn't want it to be like this summer again, being ripped from heaven. I couldn't think about you not wanting to wake up… That's what I was afraid of," Spike uttered into her ear as they once again just stood holding each other. 

            "There's something else…" Buffy whispered. "I saw something I didn't mention because I wanted to talk to you…" she said looking down, knowing better then to hold out on all the parts of a prophetic dream. Spike met her eyes. "I saw Angel chained up… He was Angelus…" she gulped. "I saw Dawn and Wolf hold hands around you and I. You were unconscious or hurt. I'm not sure, but you couldn't stand. We all were engulfed in light. Something's going to happen Spike…to us." 

Buffy let a few tears slip from her eyes but Spike quickly kissed them away. He kissed her lightly. "I love you…as I am now… no matter what happens. Remember…I will always come for you." He repeated the words he had spoken to her in a dream. It had become a comfort; every battle they entered began with this ritual. 

"These chains were forged by this amazing vampire hunter at the turn of the century. He combined his wife's holy blood…Don't ask. It's complicated… in with the liquid metal. It seems to be impenetrable by vampires. I used them on Dru when she would be violent to anyone or anything. You know how I left in a hurry so they got left too. I figured Peaches would have kept them for his own protection… I guess he and Cordy didn't do anything if they're still down here… We'll have them ready if Angel becomes Angelus," Spike said to reassure her. "Sometimes dreams leave sections out." 

After Buffy's fear over what would transpire soon enough, Spike decided to leave it there. He would explain later to her that her dream may have just indicated the ritual Spike suggested Angel do to be able to keep his soul permanently…no strings attached. 

Upstairs Dawn and Wolf cuddled together feeling the need to be close. Dawn started to realize that the claiming process had affected her. She desperately wanted to rub her face to Wolf's neck and vice versa. She wanted to show him affection the way a wolf would. Small kisses were shared between simple questions. "What's your favorite subject?" Wolf whispered while licking Dawn's ear and bite marks. 

Dawn shivered as they were nose to nose again. A small kiss on his nose was given before saying, "Art… I like to draw and look at things without seeing the object…" She got quiet and frowned slightly; "We were studying negative space when I found out my mom had died."

Wolf gathered Dawn to his chest and kissed the top of her head. "You will never be alone again." She looked up into his eyes with tears in her own, "Even if we're apart, we're one," he said sincerely lightly running his fingers over the scar he made on her neck. "I will always come for you." 

Dawn began to weep, "Spike says that to Buffy every time they go into battle."

"And so we are…" Wolf said in a far off voice. 

The wind whipped around outside the Hyperion turning what was becoming a lighter sky for sunrise as dark as midnight. The floor began to shake, as if an unknown force was attempting to pick the hotel off its foundation. All heads turned sharply to the windows to see the hundreds of glowing eyes outside and the howling. Xander and Willow exited their rooms covering their ears, "Didn't we just do this?!" Xander screamed. Buffy and Spike came running up the stairs weapons in hand. Spike threw a bag at Xander's feet to find something suitable for him. 

            Gunn approached the front of the building to get a better look. "Guys!" he yelled. "Bunch of beasties of the wolf variety just beyond the glass… Crap! Get down!" Several wolves hushed the glass hitting it over and over with their bodies attempting to break it physically. "Shouldn't they be able to break glass? Gunn asked.

            "Can we stop them?" Willow asked as the whole group assembled in the lobby again. 

            "I don't know. We should be alright because of what the observers' did, right?" Fred asked pointing at what was happening so far.

            "Should be?" Anya said reluctantly. 

            Lorn was given Connor who thought the noise was fun, mimicking the howling outside. Angel, Gunn, Cordelia and Wesley were the first to grab weapons while the rest prepared for battle next. Dawn and Wolf were approaching the door without any means of protection, unconcerned with the group. 

            "Dawn!" Buffy screamed. 

            Several of the wolves outside shifted into men and while other demons appeared having begun to gather at the site. Dawn turned to Buffy with purple glowing eyes and spoke in a deep voice that wasn't hers, "Protect the basement. They will be coming for our young Dhampire through the sewers." 

She turned back to Wolf and let him gather her in his arms. It looked like a human cocoon the way he was wrapped around her. Suddenly his arms unrolled from her body, each rolling their heads back eyes shut, and they floated a foot off the ground. Wolf's wings unrolled from his back slicing the shirt he was wearing to shreds. "Wasn't a favorite anyway?" Gunn commented as Spike looked at him. With his wings out and in place both Wolf and Dawn's heads snapped forward eyes glowing brilliantly setting Dawn to glow in her natural green state. 

All the occupants in the lobby were amazed as were those outside. The faithful wolves immediately submitted to this obvious act of authority, by shifting into human form with naked body and bowed head. A few men still stood, vampires waited, and the demons just growled. 

"BE WARNED!" a voice emanated from the being Wolf and Dawn had become. It had neither the voice of Dawn or Wolf, nor was it the voice that had spoken earlier. 

Anya stood amazed, the only one to truly behold what these two teenagers were. "**_Xex,_**" she whispered in reverence. 

"What's happening?" Fred asked.

"Destiny!" Connor said clear as day from Lorn's arms. The fluctuation of energy in the contained area caused further growth in the Dhampire. 

The floor shook again as demons and vampires alike trickled into the lobby being killed as fast as they arrived. Lorn, Wesley, and Fred took Connor and ran to Willow and Tara who were waving them into Angel's room. Gunn and Angel fought the demons in their path. "Wesley we need you out here!" Angel demanded. 

"But Fred?" Wesley whined. 

"We'll protect the door," Gunn snapped. "Cordy in…"

"No way! We're not pulling 'save the women' at this point," she objected. 

Angel swiftly shoved her into the doorway, "Call if you need help!" He went to join Xander and Anya who were trying to kill a four-armed thing with a terrible oozing skin. 

"Why…" Buffy screamed. "Can't…" sword to the face of a vampire, "We Get…" dust flying all over her, "A Vacation!" 

Spike was sword fighting a vampire that thought he was Long John Silver. Buffy promptly stuck the sword through its heart. Dust exploded. "We love the rough and tumble. We wouldn't know it was a vacation with out it," he said as a new demon attacked him. 

"I can't believe he did that!" Cordelia screamed.

"Cordy, ya taken a look at your surrogate son recently?" Lorn asked. Connor was now the size of a five year old and we fascinated by goings on. Fred was participating in the protection spell being placed over Connor by Willow and Tara, Tara being the primary conduit. 

Connor was running around the room looking for something. He crawled under the bed and emerged with two silver balls. Tara fell backward into Willow's arms while Connor grew again. There was a slight glow about him and then he disappeared. "What the hell did you do? What happened?" Cordelia demanded grabbing Willow's collar. 

The Lobby was full of fighting and chaos when Connor reappeared on top of the circular sofa in the middle of the lobby. He looked over the demons, messengers, wolves, and vampires. "You have been WARNED!" the child yelled. All actions stopped. The two silver balls smashed onto the floor exploding into large clouds of black mist. Wolf and Dawn exploded into a burst of white light. And then it was silent. 

TBC… It may be a while.


	5. Binding

Title: Binding

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Spike knew absolute silence in battle was a very bad thing. It generally meant something major had happened or you were badly injured. It took a minute to realize he couldn't see either. There was literally nothing. NOTHING! No light, no sound, no body, no self, nothing. It was just dark and oddly peacefully. This is what he had read about. He was in the Nothing. All he could do was wait. Everything would be different when he got back…if he got back. 

            Here Spike couldn't fight because there was nothing to fight. There was no one to debate reentry into the world. There weren't flames of hell or victims taunting him. There was just an absence of all life, all souls…everything. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe this was the time he couldn't come for Buffy. This was the time she'd have to come for him… But before the battle he hadn't said how. He so badly didn't want to consider what awaited them that he may have not given his love the keys to his return. "The one time I keep my mouth shut," he thought. 

            Willow was the only one still standing in the Hyperion when the smoke cleared. A brief black out then she was wide-awake. Lorn & Cordelia had gone to the door after Connor. Tara was already out cold with Fred barely staying awake from the spell. All were out like lights from the explosion. Lorn, Wesley, Gunn & Cordelia were in a heap in the doorway when Willow tried to climb her way out. Peering into the lobby she saw Connor now the size of a seven year old child still standing where he was before he threw the silver balls, except with his hand held out in front of him as if an unknown force were pressing upon him. His body was clothed in garments that weren't his own, a robe that matched that of the observers. Swiveling her eyes in the direction of his hand she saw Angel vamped out in snarling at his son. Angel was pinned against the marble wall. Dawn and Wolf were still floating but focused on the front door. 

            "Hey Red!" Angelus growled. "Decided to join the party!"

            As one Dawn and Wolf said, "Get the chains! The Armory!"

Willow hurried past all her friends laying on the ground and the children now in complete control of the room. "You have to come close to get those on me Willow!" Angelus called. "I never have gotten to eat you! I wonder if it would be better to eat you the way Tara does." Willow froze when he mentioned Tara. The magik in her began to crackle of its own accord. 

            "DON'T!" Dawn's voice came through loud and clear as a reminder of things best left alone. Willow calmed down and grabbed the chains slightly illuminated before her. 

Purposely the red head returned up the stairs with chains in hand. She smirked at Angel in an evil way, "Not the teenager you tortured before. WEAR THIS!" Willow took a rosary that was amongst the weapons and pushed the cross into his forehead. "Something to remember me by!" Angelus growled and snarled as his skin cooked. "Been wanting to do that for years!"

Hooks appeared on either side of Angelus' body in the wall. The shackles flew from Willow's hands and attached to the wall. Unseen hands wrapped Angelus from top to bottom in the chains that seemed to grow in length to wound around the vampire tightly. Willow looked over her shoulder at Connor who still seemed to be controlling his father. When Angelus was secured, Connor lowered his hand and sat down on the top of the circular sofa in silence. 

Willow immediately pulled Anya and Xander's body away from the de-souled vampire in front of her. As she did, she saw Anya had been bitten. "Now that one is tasty. I could have had a real good drink if the little bastard there would have let his dad eat something warm for once."

Applying pressure to the wound with part of Wolf's torn shirt to Anya's neck, Willow surveyed the damage in the lounge. Buffy and Spike were thrown to the floor, with Buffy's head bleeding. "Why isn't Spike awake?" Willow demanded of Connor. "He was pushed of a tower and was awake in seconds. What's going on?"

"You were the only one that didn't see the flash or weren't completely drained," Connor said simply. 

"Where are all the vampires and demons?" she asked. Connor pointed to the dust and sand on the floor. "Why didn't it kill Angel and Spike?"

"Too human," Dawn and Wolf said floating to the floor. 

"What about the wolves?" the witch asked.

"Receding," Wolf pointed out folding his wings back into his body. "Those that were in the hotel were destroyed."

"Hey fly boy," Angelus strained against the chains. "We could have real fun devouring the ladies, not to mention the munchkin."

Connor smirked like his uncle, "Spike was right. You would eat me first chance you get. Maybe it's good that's you're as hard on yourself as you are." 

Wolf walked over and stood right in front of Angelus, nose to nose. His eyes gleamed purple and teeth protruded. "Or I could just throw you outside to my Clan, let them eat you. Be a fitting end!"

A feminine growl took place over Wolf's shoulder. "Leave him be. I want to see him writhe when Buffy wakes," Dawn got close to Angelus bearing her canines as well, "Nothing like seeing the love of your life love someone you hate. Nothing like seeing the one that beat you and sent you to hell alive and well!" she said with a sardonic smile. Angelus growled even louder as she laughed in his face.

A moan started to be emitted from Buffy as Willow bloated the wound on her head. "Will that hurts. Cut it out." She gingerly moved her body. Once her eyes locked on Spike's motionless form, she moved quickly. "Spike," she said pulling his head into her lap. "Spike… Come on wake up."

"Don't worry baby. If you need a demon in your bed, I'll be happy to oblige. Spikey's been breaking you into all the things I like," Angelus hissed. 

Buffy's eyes went big at the realization that Angelus was back. She then looked back at Spike before standing. "Sorry Angelus. Keep talking like that and I'll be happy to really neuter you… So glad your other half kept those chains around…he's the only one who truly knows what a bastard you are… Trapped by yourself, that must just chaff so bad." Angelus snarled. "Let's get a gag so we don't have to hear that mouth." Willow nodded and grabbed a towel, handing it over. "Who put the cross mark on his head?"

"Made a comment about Tara I didn't like," Willow quirked her shoulder. 

"Got to love growing up. The scary things in your closet are just there to make noise now," Dawn stood next to her sister in front of the angry vampire. "You got nothing on the Hell bitch Angel. You just have itty-bitty fangs… Look I got those!" The girls chuckled while Buffy went about the task of gagging him, each tormented in someway to keep his mouth open. 

Once Angel was completely bound they looked about the room at their fallen friends. "How do we wake them up?" Willow asked Connor. 

"It will wear off. Father keeps all sorts of fun toys under his bed," the boy said climbing down from the sofa and crossed the room. Wolf picked Spike up off the ground and followed the tiny Dhampire. "Could you move them so I can get to mother?" Connor asked very properly. It took Buffy a minute to realize Connor meant Cordelia. Shuffling Wesley and Gunn's bodies, Wolf crossed the threshold into the room to lie Spike down for the time being. Lorn began to rouse of his own accord when he was moved. 

Buffy pulled Cordelia into a sitting position so she could face Connor. He just climbed onto her lap and wrapped her arms around him. Connor snuggled his little head into her shoulder and stayed put not saying a word. Lorn shifted his head, "What were you playing with kid? It packed quite a punch."

Connor just snuggled closer to Cordelia. "One was a mystical ball for disrupting demon's demons."

"Did that make sense?" Willow asked touching Tara's face gently trying to wake her. 

Lorn nodded solemnly, "Thus being why Angel's bound to the wall and Spike's out cold." Connor nodded and touched Cordelia's face, starting to cry. "Come here," Lorn said softly gathering the boy in his arms. Buffy looked at Lorn questioningly. "Cordelia has a demon too… without it to stabilize her, Cordelia's in a coma."

"Sacrifice the few for the many," Connor mumbled from Lorn's shoulder. 

"We'll figure out what to do about them soon, okay?" Buffy said quietly. Connor nodded. "What was the other ball you threw?"

"Sleeping potion. Everyone will wake up the same except for Mother, Father and Uncle," the small boy said. 

"Why not Lorn?" Willow asked.

"Different dimension… Not quite the same," he said rubbing the little boy's back. "Let's get you one of your papa's shirts? You look like a Roman in that toga thing ya got going there."

Wolf and Dawn stood back to chest in perfect alignment. They both were back to their teenage selves, no glowing eyes or sharpened teeth. "Alright what did you two do in this scenario?" Buffy asked. 

Wolf grimaced, "I'm not sure… Just knew we had to make them stop."

Dawn looked at Wolf then Buffy, "I focused on the intentions of the hearts of those in the room." 

"Explain that one a little more?" Buffy asked quizzically. 

"He was the weapon…I was the power."

"That's not something you want to wake up hearing," Gunn groaned. 

Dawn snickered, "No really. It was like all that energy I'm made of had a place to go and a method to do it. I just had to remember who the energy was to be directed at."

"I'm glad you know what happened because all I know was that it felt like electricity poured into my body and out of my skin," Wolf commented holding Dawn from behind. Wesley and Gunn helped each other up, and then scrambled to get to Fred's side first. Tara opened her eyes gingerly to the smiling face of Willow stroking her hair.

"Why's Dead Boy chained to the wall?" Xander moaned as he stood helping Anya up, who was really woozy. Buffy approached them both as quickly as possible knowing the fresh wounds on Anya's neck would drive Xander to Angel's face. Xander began punching Angel in seconds. "You filthy bastard…How dare you…"

His punches were interrupted by Buffy. "He's tied up good and tight. Pummeling and staking take place if we can't figure out how to get his soul back into him," Buffy said calmly. 

The altercation had loosened Angel's gag. "That's a laugh… Spike's the only one who knew how to pull that one off and he's dead." Buffy's head whipped around to look at Angelus. "What? You thought he was just knocked out? Please it would take far worse then that to get him unconscious. That's what the little half-breed was telling you… We aren't coming back… Your seer's brain is fried by the tumors. By soul's back in the land of the Ether and Spike is off in the Nothing! We're dead to you!" Buffy's body froze. "That's right princess… Your sweet dark whipping boy isn't anywhere!"


	6. Black and White

Title: Black and White

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

"That's what the little half-breed was telling you… We aren't coming back… Your seer's brain is fried by the tumors. My soul's back in the land of the Ether and Spike is off in the Nothing! We're dead to you!" Buffy's body froze. "That's right princess… Your sweet dark whipping boy isn't anywhere!" Angelus spewed viciously.

"Thus being why I will always hate you, you never know when to shut up!" Dawn yelled at him and retied the gag. "Go ahead and bite me, loser." 

Dawn led Buffy into the room with Spike's body. "He's not dead Buffy. His body is still here… We just have to figure out what to do now." Buffy just stared at Spike's body. 

 Everyone was up and moving now except for the two obvious invalids. "Are we just going to leave him like that?" Fred asked pointing to Angel.

"Honestly, you don't want to hear him when he's like this," Wesley said in a clipped manner. "What did he just say about the Nothing and the Ether? That was part of the prophecy…" Gathering a book or two he set out to figure things out a bit better. 

Lorn and Connor returned from the closet, the child wearing a big t-shirt. "We need to get the kid some clothes."

"You need to get the kid some food!" Connor fussed. 

This was the first time Fred, Wesley, and Gunn had really looked at Connor since the chaos began. "I imagine so… Growing that much got to take a lot out of you," Lorn said to the child as they headed for the fridge. 

"Yeah especially when I have another few years to age in the next day!" Connor said seating himself on a chair in the kitchen. 

"Connor," Wesley began, "Do you know about what's happening to you?"

"Just enough to keep me from screaming. How would you like to live out your whole childhood in one day with your father chained to a wall?" he smarted off. 

Lorn smiled, "Got your mother's mouth… She had some brass balls kid." Connor began to cry. "I'm sorry. I guess you were with her longer then the rest of us."

"You thought it wouldn't be a big deal because she kept trying to get rid of me before I was born… Well she also died for me! Don't forget that!" the little man snapped pointed at Lorn's chest.

"Guess that Dhampire quality applies to attitude too," Gunn commented. 

"Hey, not a huge fan of Angelus on the wall over there," Xander stormed into the kitchen. "I'd like to get my best pool partner back and stop my best friend from looking like she's going into a dissociative fugue." Everyone stopped and stared at him. "What? I can learn things from Willow!"

"Whelp, you couldn't learn anything from Witchhazel if you tried," Connor said quickly slapped his hands over his mouth. "That wasn't my thought!" he said firmly. Connor started to hit his head, "Stop! Stop!" Suddenly Connor started talking again, "Watcher boy…Get the prophecy I worked on and look at the Norse with it!"

Buffy stumbled into the kitchen pushing Willow then Gunn out of her way. "Spike!" Connor looked at her with big eyes. "Whelp…Watcher boy… Who else says that?" 

"She's right," Xander acknowledged. "That was a very Spike insult."

Buffy turned back to Connor and knelt down before him. "Do me a favor? Close your eyes and see if you can hear Spike...What's he telling you?"

Connor shut his little eyes. "I will always come for you…" he said sweetly, "But this time you got to get me."

"How?" Buffy asked Spike through his nephew.

"Dawn and Wolf… They have to open the Nothing," Spike answered. "I don't know where Cordelia is munchkin…"

Wesley watched the interaction fascinated. Wolf came over to his side, "The translation was that Dawn and I could open the Nothing and the Ether. Spike's in the Nothing and Angel's soul is in the Ether. Am I right so far?" 

"Yes, but what…" Wesley asked.

"Cordelia is in the place between then…." Wolf laid out his logic. "If the Ether holds human souls then logically the Nothing holds demon souls in this case. Cordelia's body couldn't support her visions and her soul so she had to be made part demon. What's to say she's not enough demon for the Nothing and too much for the Ether. But it doesn't mention us being able to open any place like that."

Lorn looked at his young friend sadly and smiled. "All three's bodies remain despite your little destruction of all demon explosion thingy you did…so if we can get the right parts of them back in their bodies, we're in business… If the Powers intended them to be dust they'd be dust too."

Dawn stepped closer to the conversation. "So how is this supposed to work? You told me long ago I could open the Ether… You've had to see it," Dawn addressed Lorn. 

"Not sure Hun. I just saw it happen and knew what it was…Doesn't mean I know how to make it happen."

Connor jumped off the chair and headed for the fridge. He grabbed a packet of blood from the bottom shelf and ripped into it with his baby vampire teeth. "That's just weird," Xander said watching. 

"I'm starving," the kid said. He guzzled the packet down and went for a second. In seconds he grew another inch and aged a year. "I hate that part!" he said stretching all of his joints. "I certainly hope their right about this being reversible."

"Who said?" Buffy asked. 

"The clear people…" he said simply. 

"So…You're still here," Buffy said addressing the room. "I really don't know what's going on here, but I'd appreciate any help you could lend. I'd really like to keep the partner you guys have been promising me for a little longer then a month."

The leader once again appeared in the center of the lobby nose to nothing with Buffy. He floated toward the room Cordelia and Spike were 'resting' in. It ran its hand over Cordelia from top to bottom. She started sucking air like she was drowning. Her arms flared out to grasp the bed sheet. 

Connor came running. "Mama," he whispered at the door. When her eyes began to flutter open he cast himself bodily upon her. "Mama I'm sorry. I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you." Cordelia didn't even look phased that this child was in her arms calling her mama. 

"Shhhh…" she soothed him. "It's alright…It's alright. You did what you had to. You did good," Cordelia said kissing his head. 

"Alright. Now fix Spike!" Buffy ordered the leader. It considered her a minute and went to Dawn and Wolf. It clasped there hands in a circle and then disappeared. "Oh come on…"

"Don't look clear things in the mouth," Xander mumbled. Once again the occupants of the Hyperion stared at him. "I've had no sleep and you knew what I was getting at."

"Tara, Willow?" Cordelia called. The witches peered their heads into the room. "The spell you did went wonky with his system … He's growing way too fast… Will you look at reverting it before…" Cordelia stopped talking and started to weep. "He's gone isn't he?" 

"Who?" Willow asked gingerly.

"You've staked him already?" she whispered. 

"No…" Willow answered. "He's chained to the wall. We'll work on the curse once we find Spike."

"Don't bother," the Seer muttered. "He's only going to escape."

Willow started to get anxious by the way Cordelia was talking a clinging to the little boy in her lap. "Cordelia, what'd you see?" She just started crying. "Cordy? I need you to tell me."

"Connor go sit with Lorn," Cordelia said to the child in her lap. 

"No…" he whimpered. 

The water works attracted the attention of Lorn quickly. "Come here little guy. Let Cordy talk to Willow and we'll get this straightened out that much faster."

"No we won't… Papa's not coming back… She knows it. I know it… He's not coming back," Connor said solemnly.

"We don't know that…" Lorn said quietly taking the boy by the hand and leading him out of the room. 

Cordelia hugged herself. "I saw another battle, this time over Connor. Angelus kills him. Spike kills Angelus and some wolf thing." 

Willow saw her window, "Cordelia, the powers send you visions so you can stop what's happening in them. We'll put this back together…"

Cordelia and Willow left the bedroom slowly. "Nice to see you up," Gunn commented with a cross bow at his chest pointed at Angel. She nodded. 

"Come on Wes… Your running short on time," Connor said to the watcher. 

"Well, if you'd give me a little more to go on I might have some better luck," the Englishmen grounded out at the child. 

"Bloody Hell!" Connor shouted. 

Cordelia looked at Wesley then Connor. "He's channeling the blonde pest for us," Wesley remarked. 

"Watch it mate! Look… you can restore Angel's soul without the curse if you can figure out how to open the Ether. You can give me back my soul too…" Spike said quietly. "But if you do it before my demon's put back then my body will die almost immediately."

"How'd do you know all this?" Buffy asked the boy.

Connor smirked just like his Uncle, "Luv, there's nothing here but me mind… I've been here for a few months now. I've had plenty of time to think this through. Now that I have your attention, I want out fast."

"It is just unnerving to hear a child call my sister luv," Dawn remarked. 

"It's weirder for me to say," Connor said of his own accord. 

Buffy turned abruptly to Wolf, "How'd you know how to be that thing you and Dawn were?"

"Instinct," he stated. 

"Okay… Before this started I saw you and Dawn holding hands around me holding up Spike. Why don't we just try getting into that position and see what happens?" Buffy commented. Angelus started laughing out right nearly choking on the gag. "That either means its ridiculous or it'll work and he doesn't us to do it."

"Ridiculous, luv. You need an orb of Thesula to open and transfer a soul normally. Got no reference on what you need to open the Nothing," Connor said from the kitchen sitting on the table in a very Spike like pose. 

Dawn thought for a minute, "You need me. I'm the orb equivalent in both cases. I open doors between dimensions."

"So some how I'm the lock?" Wolf wondered out loud. 

"It makes reference to the claw of the jackal… That's you," Wesley acknowledged Wolf. 

"Wait… I just saw a jackal refernce somewhere else," Fred said frantically from the counter. "The Nothing…leads…It's a gate… The Nothing is a link to another dimension…"

Anya nodded then offered, "It's a link to Anubis."

"What?" Buffy said looking at her friend. 

"That thing that Wolf becomes…its part of Anubis," she explained.

"Back story?" Cordelia demanded.

"The Egyptian gods…one of them is named Anubis… Are you suggesting that Anubis is just in another dimension?" Wesley asked.

"Well, of course… Where'd you think all the Egyptian 'gods' went? Disneyland?" Anya replied. 

"If you knew about this why didn't you say anything?" Buffy demanded. 

"I didn't know it was the link, now did I?" Anya said putting her hands on her hips. 

"Do you know how to open it?" Dawn asked expectantly.

"Only one of its own can open it. Probably in the process of getting rid of the demons you inadvertently opened it," she commenting to Wolf. "I suggest going all winged."

"I don't know how to do that on queue," Wolf said. 

"I do," Connor smirked. Everyone stared at the boy. "Unchain Angelus!"

TBC….


	7. Nothing

Title: Nothing

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            "Unchain Angelus?" Xander said in unbelief. "Insanity does run in your family!"

            "You don't get it… He needs a threat. Angelus is a threat," Connor said wisely.

            "Yes a threat that can kill us!" Xander fussed at the small boy.

            Wolf looked at the boy unknowing. Something in the back of Buffy's mind started to nag at her. Angelus had been chained to the wall before she woke. Willow didn't do it for sure. The boy must have controlled him. "Let him do it," she spoke up. 

            "Buffy I know you want Spike back but…" Wesley began.

            "Let him do it," Willow agreed. The only ones in the room that didn't need to know that Connor could control Angelus were Wolf and Dawn. It had to be a real threat. "Trust us!" Willow demanded. 

            Gunn stood up, "Have you all lost your minds? I love that man like a brother, but I'm going to shoot his ass dead if he tries to bite me."  
            "This is one time I'm pulling rank. I'm the Slayer. What I say goes! We're doing this," Buffy said crossing to Angelus removing the gag.

            "I knew you missed my bite!" he hissed. 

            Wolf instinctually began to growl, stalking forward. Her hand was on the lock when Gunn grabbed her. Buffy knocked him across the room easily and switched the lock. Angelus went straight for Buffy. "Get Spike!" Buffy demanded defending herself. Willow dragged Spike's body with Xander's help into the lobby. 

            "You want to explain this insanity to me?" Xander snipped at Willow.

            "Later," Will responded grabbing Dawn's hand dragging her forward.

Angelus made a full attack against Buffy who stopped resisting hoping that it would be enough to push Wolf over the top. Growls emanated from Wolf middle pinning the vampire against the wall as he transformed. 

            "Do it!" Buffy shouted. Connor took over the controlling of Angelus as Buffy wielded the teenage boy to the center of the room. Dawn figured out the rest at that point and grabbed Wolf's hand. Buffy held Spike up as Dawn grabbed Wolf's other hand to form a circle around the blonde vampire and the slayer. Brilliant light started to swirl around the four some.

            Buffy held Spike's body for all it was worth. Then there was silence and darkness. 

            "What's going on?" Fred asked from behind the counter. 

            "Haven't a clue?" Wesley said honestly. 

            The chains automatically wound around Angel again. This time unseen hands manually opened Angel's mouth and stuffed the towel in it. Lorn looked at Connor, "Very good. Now can you juggle too?" The little boy laughed like a little boy should laugh. "When this is over I want to hear that more often." 

            "You knew he could do that?" Xander asked Willow.

            "Yeah. The important thing was to get Wolf to think he was the only barrier between Angelus and Buffy," Willow explained. 

            "Ya could have clued me in," Xander demanded.

            "Not without Wolf hearing."

            "So I got thrown across the room for trying to protect Buffy from nothing really," Gunn commented. 

            "Basically," Cordelia affirmed. 

            "Well that's just great," he grumbled. 

            "How do we know when it's worked?" Tara asked.

            "My guess is when Spike makes some wise ass remark," Xander asserted. 

            "All that energy can't be good for them," Fred said watching the energy circulate into and out of Wolf and Dawn through their arms. 

            "When they came off their little 'weapon' thing, they were fine in a few minutes, though Dawn did keep her fangs a little longer then I was comfortable with," Willow commented.

            "Do you think Buffy's alright in all that stuff?" Tara asked.

            "She got to go find Spike," Anya stated.

            "Find?" Wesley asked. 

            "Well, he might be right where the door opened or he could be way on the other side of the Nothing. Ya never know?" she answered.

            "An, you didn't mention the finding part," Xander interjected.

            "So?"

            "What if she can't find him?" Tara whispered.

            "Spike!" Buffy called. "Spike!" She tried looking around but that was pointless since there was no light. "It was a lot easier to talk to you through Connor," she grumbled. "Alright I can feel you when you're not with me…this can't be that different. All those focusing technique Giles had me do will finally come in handy." Letting her mind go quiet she tried to focus on that part of her that was entirely Spike's, where was it calling her. Question was how would she get back once she found him. "Another worry for another time." 

            Buffy felt herself be drawn toward something. She wasn't concentrating on it or consciously move, but whatever part of her was there went to it. It felt like forever before she heard this far off sound. As she approached it started to sound oddly familiar and she got the impression it was an old Beatles song. "Why the hell is John Lennon in here?"

            "She loves you… ya…ya…ya" Buffy heard the singing and got closer. "She loves you…ya…ya…ya…"

            "I hate that song!" Buffy thought. 

            "Sorry to hear that luv… But it got you here just the same."

            The darkness was gone as Buffy blinked a few times. Spike was lying in her arms in a heap on the floor. "She loves you… ya…ya…ya," he sang sleepily. "Do you know how long I had to sing that before you bloody found me?" Buffy started to laugh and cry at the same time. 

            "Munchkin," Spike called to his nephew. Connor jumped off the table and came up to the blonde vampire who was panting for no good reason. He waved the boy closer. "Thanks for letting me use your head for a bit… Hearing nothing for a long time can drive a man a bit crazy."

            "You're not going to eat me, are you?" Connor asked before receiving a hug from Spike. 

            "No pet… But I am hungry," Spike commented closing his eyes again. Buffy lifted her arm to his mouth. He looked at her like she was nuts. "Have we run out of blood?"

            "No…but it will heal you fast, so drink," Buffy fussed.

            "Hey… I put up with occasional bite marks from the two of you in normal situations. I don't want to see the biting," Xander snapped.

            "No worries Whelp. There won't be any biting… I'll feed and be fine," Spike said as he attempted to push himself off the ground. "Gonna help me up luv?"

            Buffy looked him over and said, "No… If you don't need my blood then you shouldn't need my help either."

            "Here we go," Dawn sighed. 

            "What?" Gunn asked.

            "It's the battle of the blondes. Stubborn is as stubborn does… Spike just bite her and get it over with. We still have to figure out how to re-soul the model of fatherly love on the wall," Dawn said angrily.

            "I'm fine Bit," he groaned.

            Dawn hauled him up with one hand. "Look, Spike…I love you but suck it up and admit you need help. I still have to meet my in-laws tonight and most likely the rest of the Clan that we didn't kill this morning. I doubt seriously we are going to be well received, so do me a favor and be at your best now instead of later."

            Defeated Spike nodded. "Hey, I still don't want to see it and I don't think its good for the kid to see it either," Xander piped in.

            "Fine we'll be back in a few," Buffy explained to the rest. 

            "Us too," Dawn said taking Wolf's hand to go upstairs too. Spike gave her a disapproving glare. "Have you seen what all this has done to Wolf?" Spike finally focused on the boy who looked absolutely drained. "I'm the energy, he's the conduit. We both need a break."

            Willow looked over the haggard group. "Take care of the boys. I'll pull up the parts to Angel's original curse and see if we can find some correlations in the prophecies about opening the Ether. Hey, this go round, I won't have to stay in the hospital," Willow smirked. 

            "We've covered this road before," Cordelia said petting Connor's head. 

            Buffy nodded, "Call us if you need us."

            "Do we even want to know what Buffy and Spike will be up to?" Tara asked Willow. 

            "No, we really don't… Last time she gave blood to a vampire to heal him… Well let's just say that's another reason we're not too fond of Angel."

            "You mean Angelus," Fred said quickly.

            "No, she means Angel… Angel nearly drained Buffy dry. Put her in the hospital for a while," Cordelia said softly. "That was when she was his sun and moon."

            "Amazing healing powers and she still has the scar from that one," Xander said quietly. 

            "That one?" Gunn asked.

            "Dracula bit her too," Anya said plainly. "Wanted his very own Slayer."

            "Dracula?" Gunn looked at her in confusion. "As in 'I want to suck your blood' Dracula…"

            "Oh yes… Very sexy guy," Anya smiled.

            "An, fiancée standing right here," Xander snapped. "I don't care if her was your ex… I don't go around saying how sexy Cordelia is do I?"

            Gunn and Fred's heads swivel toward Cordy. "What?" she asked.

            "They can't believe you dated him," Connor commented. 

            "I know honey," she smiled at the boy. 

            "I can't believe you said that," Anya fussed.  "Dracula's not here to get all excited that I still think he's sexy. Cordelia could get the wrong idea. Now that her man doesn't have a soul she might want you back."

            Cordy's eyes fell and so did tears. "Come on Connor. Why don't we go lay down for a nap. It's been a rough morning."


	8. Claiming

Title: Claiming

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Dawn walked Wolf into his room. "Lay down," she whispered and moved him toward his bed. Wolf lay on his side trying not to put pressure on his back since it was still tender. She hurried to the bathroom and wet a washcloth. When she returned to him, Dawn began to wipe off the dried blood on his back from his transformations of the evening. 

            The more she touched his back the more she wanted to clean the cuts herself. Tentatively, Dawn reached her tongue out and touched one of Wolf's cuts, licking it clean. "What are you doing?" Wolf jumped at the feeling. 

            Dawn stilled his body with her arm, pushing him further onto the bed lying on his stomach. "They'll heal faster," she whispered against his skin. Gently she touched his back caressing it as she licked his wounds. 

Wolf began to pant. "Dawn," he said breathily. 

Dawn had settled her body above and to the side of Wolf's back. His skin was knitting back together nicely as she attended him. "This will come in very handy," she said to him.

"If it doesn't drive me mad," he said sucking air as she licked and kissed a long injury on his shoulder blade. She settled her head behind his ear kissing his neck with small kittenish licks. "Dawn… Please…"

Climbing over his body swiftly to settle on the other side of him Dawn lay next to her love kissing his nose then lips, "Yes…"

He leaned back up on his side to be able to look her in the face, "Being this close to you…"

"Is just what you need," she finished and kissed him swiftly. 

Wolf's heart was pounding in his chest. "Dawn… Please you're making it hard…"

With a smirk she said, "I hope so," before continuing to kiss him thoroughly. Dawn pushed him over onto his back and lay on top of him.

Wolf began to push Dawn away but she held tight. He switched positions, rolling Dawn over onto her back with him on top. "This isn't right," he told her firmly. 

"We've been joined three times tonight in metaphysical ways and you want me to concentrate on what's right," she snapped at him. "I might have well slept with you… I can't be with anybody else, not after what's happened… You were part of me. I was part of you."

Wolf looked down at Dawn and leaned his head against hers. "You're right," he said through gritted teeth and closed eyes. "But please don't do this to me… No matter what has happened last night I can't pretend you're not fifteen… It feels so right to be this way with you. Here…us… Holding each other. Kissing. You beneath me or above me… I can't screw this up, not when it's this important."

Dawn sighed heavily and then kissed Wolf's lips lightly to get him to look at her. He blinked a few times trying to focus on her eyes. "Then let me claim you," Dawn whispered flashing purple eyes at him. "Let it be mutual…Not something that was done to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Buffy led Spike into their room slowly. "So," she whispered, "You miss me while you were gone?"

            "Could ask you the same?" he countered.

            "Well having Angelus tell me you were dead and you weren't coming back definitely got my attention," Buffy said sitting him gently on the bed. "How was months of alone with your thoughts?"

            "Awful…" he grumbled then looked in her eyes. "No way to get to you…to reach you. I hated that… I knew that at least I had made love to you the morning I… left and I told you I loved you. I can't ask for more then that in this life."

            "How did you reach me?" Buffy asked as she slowly removed his shirt and leaned him back onto the bed. 

            Spike's fingers set to work on removing her shirt and bra in a lazy manner; "I reached out with my mind to my line… Once I realized I was going to be there a while, it was like why not take a shot? I found Dru easily but she would be of little help in the situation. Angel was harder because he was Angelus and the bastard didn't want me back at all. I heard that comment he made to you pet…about breaking you in. I wanted to rip his throat out. It was then that I realized I was hearing what was happening through Connor. Each time he lost attention on what was going on in the room, I lost the connection and it took days to get it back…but to you only minutes had past. Finally when the Whelp made that comment about learning something from Willow I said something inside Connor's head, which he automatically said. That I didn't expect…" Buffy had been slowly kissing his chest as he spoke while he was peppering her throat with little kisses. "Thank you for coming for me, luv."

            "I will always come for you," she said softly, "Now drink… We need your strength up… I trust you. Just take enough."

            "Buffy… We've only ever done this when we were making love, never when I actually needed blood. This won't be a quick bite and then little sucks. This will be me drinking," Spike said worriedly. 

            "Spike… I need you to do this. Dawn needs you to do this… I'll stop you if you take to much," she encouraged him. 

            He shut his eyes and shook his head, "Where?"

            "Over my others." Spike's head shot up and snarled. "I want you to claim me… Do it there. Let me be yours. No others before or after," Buffy stated clearly. "You need to take that much blood for the ritual. I figure this is my only shot to make you mine," she said looking down.

            "I am yours!" Spike said defiantly.

            "Then prove it!" Buffy snarled back. "Angelus is downstairs all ready to give me his bite…"

            That was all Buffy got out of her mouth before Spike set upon her. It was cruel she knew but he would continue to fight her if she tried the rational approach. His mind would never allow it…only his demon would. Spike's eyes were bright yellow as his teeth had begun to descend scraping at her neck. "You are mine," he hissed as he ripped her pants from her body, "Not his…never his… Mine! You are mine now and always," he continued.  Buffy removed his pants with the same ferocity he had with hers. 

            Spike was hard and ready to finish the ritual. Sex was always part of claiming. "Mine!" he snarled, as he demanded entry to her body pinning her to the bed. "None before…None after," with those words Spike bit into Buffy's neck roughly and crashed into her body. 

Buffy hissed in pain knowing she had torn. This wasn't at all what she thought it would be like. Spike wasn't with her, his demon was staking his claim. He drove in harshly to her again and again she hissed. This time Spike heard her over the sound of the blood in her veins pouring into his body. He stopped abruptly, pulling up to see the pain on his love's face. His face shifted back immediately at the sight. 

"Buffy… Buffy…" he urgently whispered. Buffy was gritting her teeth to bare the pain of what she had begged for…baited Spike into. "Buffy, luv… You still with me?"

"Uh… Yeah…" she said wearily, panting. Spike moved slightly between her legs to look in her face more but the action caused Buffy to flinch. Spike looked whiter then normal at the intimate pain he had caused. 

"Buffy," he said with pain in his eyes. 

He tried to disengage their bodies but Buffy stopped him. "Finish," she whispered.

"I'm going to take care not to hurt you first… There is no discussion on that," Spike insisted and moved gently out of her body. He caressed Buffy's face and tilted her head to the side licking the blood that had been running down her neck from her wound. His hands traveled lightly down her body as he began to suck gently at the wound again. "My love," he whispered against her neck. He settled his body on top of hers again but baring his weight on one arm. 

His tenderness caused Buffy to cry. "Please finish… I need you to do this," she whimpered. 

Spike closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He would finish for her only because she was crying. Once again his eyes gleamed yellow as he brought his mouth to her ear. "You are mine… in body, mind, and spirit." He drank deeply from her neck that he had bitten again before biting his wrist. He held it to her lips as Buffy's tongue lapped at the cut offered to her. "Blood of my blood. Be in Me. Drink my love…my mate." She took one long sip at Spike's wrist and saw his life…all the things that he was a master vampire and all the things he was as her partner. 

When Buffy opened her eyes, Spike had tears in his. "Sweet… Luv… Say something…"

"I love you," she whispered. He let the tears fall and rolled their bodies so Buffy was on top of him, clutching her fiercely. "What's wrong?" she asked. 

"What's wrong?!" he paused loosening his grip on her "I… I claimed you…violently. I'm not going to be happy about that," he stated frustrated. He lay back on the bed with his arms behind his head. 

"I wanted to be claimed…" Buffy insisted.

Spike turned towards her, "That's not the issue." Buffy looked at him in confusion. He sighed, "Its one thing for us to get rough in bed and we both enjoy…" He stopped talking and looked her straight in the eye. "I hurt you…and you did not enjoy it."

Buffy cast her eyes down, "That was my fault."

"How could that possibly be your fault?" Spike asked exasperated by the whole situation. He would never understand Buffy, he was now sure. 

"I wanted this so badly that I used Angelus to pull the demon part of you out…to do what I wanted. You said you would have done this for me in a minute, if its what I really wanted…but I didn't believe you would unless you were forced to," she whispered at the end. 

Spike rolled onto his side to face Buffy pulling her face to him with his finger. He looked into her hazel eyes and said, "This was the brutal reality of the claiming ritual that I wanted to avoid, not the commitment that it signifies. Another day we'll make it gently and loving." Buffy snuggled into Spike's chest and they rested. 

Spike lay with his eyes open looking at the ceiling. Buffy still didn't believe he was in this for the long haul no matter what she said. Her manipulation of the situation had proven that to him. She wanted to be his but only on her terms… "That's really why she doesn't want to get married. She wants the commitment without the compromise," he thought to himself. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Wolf stared down into Dawn's face as she shifted enough to let her canines descend and her eyes gleam. She did it with such ease, it struck Wolf that it was a conscience decision rather then an automatic reaction to circumstances. "She can control her wolf better then I can," he thought to himself. 

            "Let me claim you," Dawn whispered against the soft skin of his neck. "You can access my power and essence easier. We would function as one." 

Dawn swept her tongue up his neck on the same side he had claimed her. Wolf tilted his head to give her more contact. He shut his eyes and drank in the sensations of being taken rather then being in control. He held himself so tight unknowing what he was capable of that this simple offer of wedding the marks seemed a welcome relief from his responsibilities. 

Wolf panted and grew hard as Dawn prepared his neck for her bite. His hair stood on end as his body felt electrified by these simple actions. Wolf wondered if Dawn's body had responded to him as he prepared her. This however was vastly different then what happened earlier. Earlier had been a necessity this was a choice. 

Dawn still lay beneath Wolf on the bed, pressing up into him to kiss and suck at his neck. Their bodies were aligned for sex if their clothing were removed. Wolf was panting heavily, rocking his pelvis in rhythm with the pace Dawn had set. She scraped her teeth against Wolf's ear and growled, "I am to my beloved as my beloved is to me," the same words he had used to claim her earlier the evening before. 

Wolf rocked faster against Dawn's small frame and moaned out, "I love you." Dawn bit down into his neck and once again he was flying. Wolf instinctually leaned down and bit Dawn again. This time he wasn't seeing the violet guy or the legions of wolves they would face, but images of Dawn's life. 

He saw Dawn slash her arms to see if she was real, he saw Dawn be told at school her mother was dead, and then later her touching her mother's face. He saw her weeping in a cave with a badly beaten Spike, he saw a curly haired chick chasing Dawn and Buffy, and he saw knights attacking them. More clearly then the rest Wolf saw the tower with Dawn chained to it. He watched it all, Spike fight and be pushed off the tower, Dawn being cut, and eventually Buffy jumping off the tower. He saw them all stare at Buffy's body lying broken and dead. He felt Dawn's absolute sorrow as she clung to Spike as they wailed together. And in that moment Wolf understood Dawn completely, she wasn't fifteen or even fifty. She was timeless like the creatures that had transformed him, and yet she wasn't whole without him. 

If Wolf thought his life had changed when he first claimed Dawn it was nothing compared to what he felt in that moment. There was no longer a question of how this was going to work or if it could. His life in this city was over… Family, the Clan, none if it mattered the moment he looked back into Dawn's face and saw tears streaming from her eyes. Wolf wasn't sure how but he would make a life in Sunnydale. He had to…there was nothing else to be done. As strange as it sounded, he lived those moments with Dawn and he knew he wouldn't be content to be away from her. In those moments of the claiming he came as close to being in some else's mind as could be imagined. Every thought, emotion, and understanding Dawn had of the Scoobies, Wolf now possessed. 

Wolf slowly lifted Dawn up off the bed and kissed her crying eyes. When she was strong enough and comfortable enough to open her eyes, Wolf's face was waiting. "I love you," he whispered. "You will never be alone again. You're complete now." There was a question in Dawn's dark eyes. "I'm going home for a short while… When I return it will be always."

"What are you talking about?" she muttered.

"I mean my life will never be the same and I see no point in pretending it will. I'll go home and get my things. Hopefully my parents won't get in my way. I can't imagine they would at this point," Wolf spoke with strength. 

Dawn still looked confused. "Are you saying you're leaving home for me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying…"

TBC…


	9. Home

Title: Home

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            "Should we be worried they've all been out for so long?" Tara asked looking in on Cordelia and Connor curled into one another sleeping. 

            "Buffy and Spike I'm sure have been getting it on," Xander commented as he picked up a new book to research in. "I'm going to try to think that Dawn and Wolf have not. I can hope that two teenagers left to their own devices in a room for a couple hours are just making out."

            "We used to make out for a couple of hours without anything else happening," Willow said off handedly to Xander. "Then again we were both dating other people…" she said curiously. 

            "Have all of you dated at some point?" Gunn asked Willow. 

            "No but there have been plenty of crushes and emotions to run the spectrum," she commented taking a much-needed breather. "Let's see- Xander's the most fun cause he has the most colorful history."

            "Hey…" Xander complained.

            "Oh this is fun. Go ahead I want to hear what happened before I came to punish him," Anya commented. 

            "You came where?" Fred asked.

            "Xander cheated on Cordelia with Willow so I came to Sunnydale to dispense vengeance upon him. But that didn't work out so well, since instead of wishing that Xander were a bug or something Cordy wished Buffy never came to Sunnydale, which of course brought hell on earth. Willow and Xander were both vampires, Angel was Willow's slut puppy and the Master ruled the town. In the end Cordelia was drained by Willow and Xander, Willow dusted Angel, Oz dusted Willow, Buffy dusted Xander and the Master killed Buffy all before Giles crushed my amulet."

            "Hey…Why haven't you told us about all that?" Willow asked.

            "What's the point? You got to meet your vampire self. She even showed you were gay," Anya said with confidence. 

            "I'm so confused," Fred said sitting back on a stole.

            "Don't worry. We all are," Wesley chimed in. 

            "Back to what we were saying… Xander liked Buffy in high school, was supposed to mate with this Preying Mantis thing, had this Inca mummy chick attempt to suck the life out of him, then he started dating Cordelia…who at the time was probably the worst of them all. Then we had some confusing fling thing which brought Anya into our midst," Willow mentioned.

            "Oh, don't forget losing his virginity to Faith," Anya pointed out.

            "Faith… You lost your virginity to Faith?" Wesley looked confused and shocked. 

"Whose Faith?" Gunn asked.

            "The crazy slayer locked up some where near here… Don't go getting ideas Xander," Anya commented. 

            "Honey, last sexual situation I was in with her she tried to strangle me… Why would I want to?" Xander defended himself. 

            "There's another slayer? Isn't there only supposed to be one?" Gunn asked simply.

            "Yeah well, Buffy died for like a minute and another got called," Willow explained.

            "Faith," Fred said simply.

            "No, Kendra who was killed by Druscilla, you remember her. Faith was called to replace Kendra," Wesley laid out.

            "So is there a third since Buffy died last summer?" Gunn asked the obvious question.

            "Not that we know of. Buffy's already been replaced," Willow commented.

            "Faith is actually the on call slayer," Xander stated. 

"Now since you seem to like this game so much lets do you," Anya said to Willow. "You liked Xander for forever…until Oz."

"First there was the demon that wooed her over the Internet… And Oz was a werewolf lets not forget!" Xander felt the need to mention. "And now there is Tara who is the nicest of the bunch at all times since we don't have to chain her up for three days of the month."

"Thanks Xander," Tara laughed. 

"What about Cordy?" Gunn asked very curious now.

"Let's see she dated all these jock types freshman year, even had a boyfriend killed," Xander said calmly. "Then she definitely had eyes for Angel, like he noticed with our resident slayer around. Cordy dated me…then dated some other guys until she got a crush on Wesley."

"So this went both ways?" Gunn smirked.

"Oh ya… She just thought he was so cool with his accent and he was older," Willow commented. 

"And Buffy?" Fred asked.

"Teeny bopper before Sunnydale. We don't really know much more then she really liked this guy named Ford that came to Sunnydale to be turned into a vampire, which Spike did come to think of it. Then Buffy had to slay him…" Xander said thoughtfully. Then of course there was Owen, who I think Cordelia tried to muscle in on too. Angel of course…the never ending saga of Angel and Buffy that of course ended really badly the first time and only less homicidal the second. Senior year she tried to date this guy named Scott but that sucked," Xander continued before Fred interrupted him.

"Homicidal?" 

"Oh yeah," Anya piped in. "Slept with Buffy then lost his soul, all sorts of death and mayhem. Pretty cool to watch."

"Please don't say things like that in front of demon hunters. They might get the wrong idea," Xander encouraged his fiancée.

"It couldn't have been that bad. It was Angel," Fred said meekly.

Angelus just laughed from the wall. "Forgot he was there," Willow said annoyedly. "Well let's see, he drew Buffy in her sleep as well as Dawn and their Mom, just to freak her out. Let her know he could still get into the house. Killed countless people and my fish. Eventually he killed Ms Calendar, Giles' girlfriend setting it up to look like a romantic night only for him to find her dead in his bed. Kidnappings, general death and evil. Eventually Buffy kicked his ass and sent him to hell, unfortunately with Angel's soul too. Leave anything out…" 

"Covered all the important bases," Xander confirmed. 

Xander and Willow looked at each other then continued with their game. "Buffy had a fling with a stupid guy at the beginning of college before starting to date Riley, one of the commando dudes that gave Spike his chip. Then there's Spike that is way too complicated to explain how that all happened," Xander said. 

"Let's just say, Spike's proof negative reinforcement works on a large scale," Willow commented. 

            "How could you just start talking about dating again after all that stuff you said about Angel?" Fred tried to fathom. 

            Willow considered the girl for a minute. "We've been nearly killed and averted the apocalypse a few too many times to dwell on that whole trauma. I mean he probably got to us the worse because we had trusted him, but we've dealt with a Hell god since then. He's just a vampire!" she said nonchalantly.

            "Um…I think I found something," Tara interrupted.

            "Whacha got baby?" Willow asked.

            "The spell is written in such away that we could just leave out the curse but we would need to replace it with something else…that's more tricky. If Dawn's right about being used as the orb I bet we have everything we need as long as we come up with something to replace the curse with," Tara responded.

            "Well avoid anything to do with sex because Angel has proven he cannot be trusted with the responsibility. Plus if we even remotely tried to alter Spike's mating habits we're going to have a cranky slayer," Xander stated.

            "_And a cranky slayer is a careless slayer_," Willow singsonged much to Xander's amusement. "Sorry…Buffyism… She was trying to convince Giles to let her go out on a date." Willow looked at Fred, Gunn, and Wesley only to say, "Never mind."

            Wesley took things into his own hands, "Why don't we consider inserting a blessing?"

            "I'm not sure that would work.  Angel's actions would cause a blessing?" Tara made a face. 

            "Why not a Sleeping Beauty clause then?" Anya offered. "Every time he gets a happy he falls asleep. Wouldn't be that different then most men, except a kiss would wake him."

            "Not a bad idea… Pretty innocuous…" Tara said.

            Willow and Xander looked at each other. "Have him fall asleep at something other then a happy… We also have to apply this to Spike," Willow mentioned. "We would have a very unhappy Slayer. Her appetite in the morning would be seriously disturbed." Fred blushed considerably as Wesley cleaned his glasses and Gunn laughed. 

"Okay? Falls asleep when kissed by …Spike?" Tara ventured everyone looked at her confusedly. "Angel falls asleep when Spike kisses him and vice versa. Cure…kiss of love."

"That is bloody brilliant," Spike said from the balcony. "Thank you for defending my repeat performance ability Red. Wouldn't want you and Dawn to stop making a game of it?!" He smiled, "Where're the kids?"

"Think they're still in the room," Xander said. Angelus was straining tremendously on the chains suddenly. "What's up with you Dead Boy?"

Angelus growled and snarled at Buffy as she descended the stairs. "He's just mad that Spike's back," she said off handedly.

"No pet. That's not it," Spike said looking at his Sire. "He can smell the magick."

"Oh…" Buffy smiled. She walked right in front of Angelus. "Not yours," she said sacchrin sweetly in his face. Angelus strained ten times harder against the chains growling deeply.

"What'd you do?" Wesley groaned.

"Calm down, Wes," Buffy shushed him. 

"You claimed her… You did. That's why he's going nuts," Wesley fussed. "That was not wise," the Englishman said to his countryman.

"Watcher, when was the last time you saw the slayer do something wise when it came to her heart," Spike grumbled.

"Hey!" Buffy pouted.

"Sorry pet! I mean from his prospective as a watcher."

"Did you just feel the need to keep up with Dawn or what?" Xander asked quickly.

"Where is Dawn?" Buffy asked quiet concerned. 

"Bit!" Spike yelled. Nothing happened. Spike darted back up the stairs opening each door without knocking. Both rooms were empty. "They didn't come down the stairs?" Spike asked worriedly. 

"Where's Lorn?" Fred said after a moment. 

"I don't bloody believe it!" Spike shouted trudging down the stairs. 

"What?" Wesley asked.

"Lorn loves Wolf and Dawn to death. All three are missing. Lorn has a car… I can't go out and kill them in the daytime," Spike groaned rubbing his face with his hands. 

"Where do you think they went?" Fred asked.

"Where'd who go?" Lorn asked coming up from the basement. 

"Are Dawn and Wolf with you?" Buffy asked frantically.

Lorn made a slight face. "Don't bother lying. Your terrible at it," Wesley chided him. "Do you know where the kids went?" 

"I took Wolf to get his car at the club. Wolf said they were going get his stuff from home. He's decided to move to Sunnydale," Lorn said plainly. 

Spike just blinked a few times before he grabbed Lorn by the lapels and throwing him against the wall. "Are you telling me you let the only two people who can get Angel's soul back out of the building to face his parents alone?" 

"When you put it that way it doesn't sound too good," Lorn admitted.

Angelus began to cackle. "Shut up Peaches! I am going to have a real good day on your ass soon if you don't keep your trap shut," Spike ground out in an earthly tone.

Buffy pulled Spike away from Lorn and Angelus, "Lorn do you know when they'll be back?"

"Uh… Well… His father was at work and so he would really only have to face his mother. But after all the junk that happened last night I think Ulrich will be there. Wolf and Dawn did toast quite a few wolves," Lorn answered. 

"Can we get back to the fact that you claimed a slayer?" Wesley growled at Spike.

"What's the problem watcher? Want her for yourself?" 

Wesley breathed deeply, "No, you Wanker of a vampire… You just claimed a mate that by nature kills your kind. Her blood flows in you, yours in her. Seeing each others lives…knowing each others pains… having each others desires." Buffy and Spike looked at Wesley. "You really don't get this. There have been other human mates to vampires before they all needed to drink blood once the claim took effect. The vampires became easier to kill. Sun, holy water, beheading and stakes weren't all they could be killed with anymore. Being stabbed in the heart with a sword made them just as dusted as a stake."

Buffy and Spike just looked dumbly at one another for a moment before Dawn walked in the front doors. "Geeze, who died?"


	10. Dogs of War

Title: Dogs of War

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

"Geeze, who died?" Dawn said as Wolf and she strolled in the front door.

"Where the hell have you been?" Spike yelled.

Buffy put a hand on his arm. "It's okay. They're back…We'll talk about this in private."

"Ah…No…Miss 'I'm the slayer so what I say goes' you aren't leaving just yet. I don't know what you thought you were playing at but it has consequences. WE will discuss your actions NOW, rather then teenagers running off for a half an hour. Somehow in the great scheme of things your actions will have far greater effects then theirs," Wesley commanded. "Now I know Giles will always be your watcher and father figure but right now you're a bit out of your depth."

Dawn and Wolf just watched as everyone stared at Buffy and Wesley face off. "You're right Wesley. You'll never be Giles, but I've been supposedly out of my depth most of my teen years and a lot of my adulthood."

"Yes and we can see how well that's turned out for you," Wesley said clearly getting closer to the small woman. "I'm not suggesting you not date Spike or even that the Powers do intend you two to be together. However a marriage of the marks when you know battle is coming isn't the wisest. You jumped like you always do, without looking at the consequences. Did you once consider what it might mean for you as a human to be claimed, let alone a slayer?"

The lobby was deathly silent. No one moved or spoke. Finally Angelus began to cackle again from the wall. Buffy turned to the vampire and began to pummel him. "Pet… Pet…" Spike tried to get her to stop. "Try the bag downstairs if you need something to hit. Not long from now the old Angel will be back and I'd rather you not have to do the begging on bended knee for forgiveness thing." They hugged for a moment and headed for the stairs. 

"Buffy…we will need to look into how this affects you both," Wesley said calmly from the counter. Buffy merely nodded briefly. 

"So someone want to catch me up on what happened since we left?" Dawn asked Willow who was standing closest to her. 

"First, taking off without warning isn't cool, especially under the circumstances," the red head said simply. 

"Sorry…it seemed real important that we do this on our own," Wolf said apologetically. 

"Did what?" Xander said cautiously. 

"We went to my house and got everything I own. Well, most of it. Its in my car outside," Wolf answered truthfully.

"Were your folks there?" Lorn asked a bit worried.

"No… Both were out. Why? Should I be worried?" 

"You might need to be," Lorn said as a wolf pushed through the front door. "Spike…Buffy… We're going to need help up here," he yelled. 

The wolf easily reverted back into his human form, his body covered only in blood. "Hello, young Ulrich," the man hissed gravely. "What a pretty mate you have? I may keep her for myself when this is over."

Wolf immediately began to growl, eyes flashing, canines descending. Amazingly Dawn responded in the exact same manner. "What business do you have here?" she snarled out.

The man just smirked, "Didn't think you would have made the claim mutual little girl…no matter. I'll just have to kill you both."

"Ulrich is dead, isn't he?" Lorn ventured quickly.

"Yes… He was very tasty," the wolf spoke calmly licking his lips. Growling increased from Dawn and Wolf. "Imagine my surprise when I take out the Ulrich in front of his Clan only to have them show little or no interest. A new king stands ready apparently…I've come to gain the Clan and this boy will not stand in my way."

Spike slipped into game face sword in hand while Buffy approached wielding her own weapon. "Sorry Git…But this is a family affair. In this marriage 'the boy' gained us. I don't fancy losing my lovely to the likes of you. You want them, you fight us," Spike spoke smoothly. 

            The air began to crackle with magick. Connor exited the bedroom he and Cordelia were sleeping in. "Oh if it isn't the baby Dhampire. Your blood is wanted by so many child." The man moved closer to Angelus, no one paying much attention to the vampire on the wall. 

            Suddenly Cordelia was at the bedroom door yelling, "Stop him!" Before anything else could register the wolf had unlocked Angelus' chains. Cordelia gathered Connor in her arms. "You can't have him," she yelled as the vampire set upon her to get to his son. 

Angelus latched on to Cordelia's neck just as Gunn shot him with an arrow, two inches off from the heart. He dropped Cordy, who then barricaded herself in the bedroom with the little boy. "Don't make me do it man," the young man said to his friend's body. 

"What, you think I care who you were to my soul?" Angelus snarled.

"Nay we know better then that," Xander said from behind him dosing his head with Holy water, blinding him. Tara pacified the writhing vampire, while Gunn, Wesley, and Xander physically moved him back to his wall hanging with the enchanted chains. 

Buffy and Spike were doing their best to put themselves bodily between the blood covered man and the teens. The man had grabbed a sword from the weapons closet in the lobby and started fighting Spike. He tired quickly of the fight and smirking as he shifted back into wolf form. Wolf shifted as well but not nearly as fluidly. All Spike and Buffy could do was watch the two wolves claw and bite each other. 

Dawn was out of reach but was very much a part of the fight. She couldn't shift but she could give Wolf all the power she had. In one big burst Dawn's eyes went from purple to bright white then normal. She collapsed on the floor, where Buffy quickly picked her up and moved her out of the way. Wolf grew larger and thicker as his wings protruded from his back. He soon had the other wolf controlled. Both men shifted back to human form though Wolf retained his wings. "What is your name defiant one?" Wolf said properly through rough voice. 

Wolf's claws were cutting into the man's throat, "Caleb."

"Caleb… Come near me and mine again and I'll shred you," the boy said clearly floating above the floor. Letting go of Caleb's throat the man's body hit the floor in an undignified heap. He immediately changed forms again and went for Dawn's unconscious body. 

It was over in a second. Blood sprayed all over the lobby floor. Wolf lifted Caleb's wolf form from the ground before he ever reached Dawn. Now the dead body of the man that had killed his father lay on the floor dead by his claw ripping through the man's neck. Wolf hovered above the floor dripping with his own blood and the blood of his adversary. Spike and Buffy just stared for a moment until Wolf's body crashed into the floor unconscious as well. 

"That was…gross," Cordelia said from the bedroom door. "Can someone please bandage my neck before I'm unconscious too?" 

Fred went to help Cordy, while Gunn guarded Angel's body again. "Do we have any tranquilizers?" Willow asked looking over at the vampire.

"Why?" Wesley asked simply. 

"Like we would do with Oz…Good thinking Will. We'll just dope fang boy up until we can do something constructive with his soul," Buffy said calmly. 

"What do we do about the body?" Fred asked. 

"Put it outside… His Clan will retrieve it," Anya answered.

"I don't think he had a Clan…I think that's why he was after Ulrich's," Lorn said mournfully. "Do you think his mother is still alive?"

Spike shook his head. "Remove the Ulrich and the Luppa or the power base isn't up for grabs."

"What if she wasn't Luppa?" Buffy asked. 

Spike gave it some actual thought, "That would mean there were two rulers not linked by 'marriage,' I'm not buying it. With the level of conservative raising this boy has gotten, I doubt his father could have sustained a human marriage and a Clan marriage."

"We'll need to find his Clan. We need to find out if his mother is still alive. It would also be good if we knew what happened," Buffy ventured propping Wolf up on the sofa. 

"I'll see what I can find out," Lorn answered.

Spike and Buffy looked at one another knowing they had just gained another teenager to worry about. They propped each teen up for cleaning and caring for. 

"How many times can Dawn get knocked out tonight?" Xander asked exasperated.

"Oh its daytime Xander," Buffy smirked. "There's a whole day full of new possibilities."

TBC….


	11. Clan

Title: The Clan

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Gunn and Spike moved Dawn and Wolf into a small bedroom on the first floor leaving Cordelia and Connor Angel's room. Angelus remained chained to the wall while Wesley and Lorn tried to find a demon organization to dispose of the body in the lobby. 

            "This vacation sucks. We came down here to hear Dead Boy embarrass himself and what happens- he loses his soul," Xander gripped. "Have I told you yet today how much I hate you?" Angelus just growled. "I mean really aside from all past sins the first thing you do when you wake up all demony is drain my fiancée…I have a whole new slue reasons to hate you."

            "Xander, constructive behavior other wise…" Buffy said simply. 

            "Maybe we're just in the way?" Anya ventured. "I would like to get back to the store."

            Buffy looked at Spike, "Your call, pet?" He sighed, "I hate to admit it but the whelp is the only one of us that has ever been… well… dog like. He might be useful."

            "What does 'dog like' mean in this scenario cause honestly you people keep getting freakier and freakier?" Gunn said exasperated. 

            "I was possessed by a hyena my sophomore year in high school. Not one of my proudest moments," Xander answered.

            "But he doesn't remember it," Willow said simply trying to reason with Spike.

            Frustrated Spike looked at Xander, who was doing his best impression of invisibility. "Tell them before I do," he instructed.

            Buffy and Willow looked at Xander expectantly. "I did… I do…" he mumbled. Spike glared at him. "I always remembered, but I didn't want you to know that because of the whole we were so good buddies." 

            "And because I had to hit you with a desk so you wouldn't rape me," Buffy batted her eyes.

            "And because you and your little group were going to eat me," Willow said causing several sidelong glances. "Not in the good way…"

            "Why is it that he knew about this and we didn't?" Buffy asked.

            "Guy thing," Spike remarked.

            "Have any of you not been possessed, vamped, or demoned for at least a while?" Gunn asked trying to figure these people out. "Cause so far you sound like the worlds worst Twilight Zone episode on acid!"

            "Well, I was a vampire for a little while sophomore year," Buffy thought about it.

            "I didn't know that, luv. I would have loved to see your fangs," Spike smirked.

            "Don't get any ideas Fang boy!" Xander chastised. 

            "Willow you've been a vampire in other planes, but not in this one. Tara's never been anything other then a witch so I think that's it," Buffy looked at Gunn and smiled. "Willow and Tara are the only ones that haven't had some beasties in them at some point…"

"Doesn't bode well for you, does it?" Spike scoffed.

"Even the watcher dude…He was…" Gunn ventured.

"Fiorle demon for a while… Ya know that language Angel and I were speaking earlier- Fiorle," Spike explained.

"I am so never living in Sunnydale!" Gunn shivered. "I don't think I could live with the possibility."

Buffy and Spike laughed. "You've never been there for an apocalypse. You've got nothing until you have to try to keep the Hellmouth from opening." Willow and Xander smiled. 

"Alright so you want me to stay in case what they can smell the hyena on me?" Xander asked. 

"Basically…" Buffy agreed.

"I'm not going to be well received mate," Spike breathed deeply for no reason. 

"So what I go with you and Buffy to meet this Clan and hope we all don't get eaten," Xander asked.

"What would be good is if we could go in knowing something about this Clan before exposing Wolf and Dawn to it," the slayer said.

"Unfortunately they're going to be looking at Wolf as the new Ulrich," Lorn said clearly. "He's his father's son, was challenged for the throne, and has shed blood in battle."

"So why can't someone else in the Clan be the leader," Gunn asked.

"Because technically Wolf is now the Ulrich, to be replaced both Dawn and Wolf would have to die…like the dead guy said," Lorn instructed. 

"This just keeps getting better," Xander muttered.

Wesley came out of the office book in hand. "From what I can tell there are three wolf clan's in LA. There was only one order of Fenris. I'm assuming our dead friend Caleb was from it. That blood line has been dwindling."

"Why's that?" Fred asked simply.

"Women's lib dear," Spike inserted. "Aren't to many women who will be up for joining a pack of men that treat them like they are next to nothing. Besides a Luppa in that community would have been…trained."

"Like as in fetch the ball," Willow asked.

Spike cleared his throat, "I don't think you want to know, Red."

"I do," Dawn said from the door of the bedroom weakly. 

Spike stiffened at the sight of his little girl. "Not age appropriate material, Bit."

"I want to know what has happened to other Luppas and I want to know now!" Dawn demanded.

The vampire flexed his jaw a few times. "It means she would me expected to… take…**_all_** of the men in the Clan. You saw how many were outside last night…One after another like train cars…Most women don't survive due to hemorrhaging." 

Dawn looked at him defiantly then turned back into the room to throw up into the garbage can. Cleaning her mouth she growled, "This is a common practice."

"Only in the order of Fenris…But that isn't what Wolf's dad was in," Lorn said quickly. "He was always very respectful of women. He taught Wolf to be the same."

"Is it normal that at the mere thought, I want to rip that man's head off myself?" she continued to snarl.

Tara spoke pointing to the dead man on the floor, "You were doing your fair share of the posturing when he arrived, Dawnie." 

Dawn slid down the door jam into a ball. "I feel so strange. Like there's this thing just beneath the skin trying to push through whenever I'm angry or… have another strong emotion." She began to shake.

Spike gathered a blanket and wrapped it around her, caring her back into the bedroom to lie down again. She instinctively snuggled into Wolf. Spike looked over the teenagers and saw the teeth marks on Wolf's neck as well. The vampire tried to breath easy until he left the room shutting the door behind him. 

"Spike? What's up? You look the whiter shade of pale, man?" Xander asked. 

The vampire swallowed a few times before speaking, "Wolf has bite marks too… I didn't even think about what the guy said about the marks being mutual…" His eyes were haunting as he looked over at Lorn. "She becoming one, isn't she?"

"I'm sorry," was all the green demon could say. Spike began to hyperventilate. Lorn crossed to him. "Spike, don't do this… You need to be strong for this, all right. You can't lose it now."

"Will someone tell me what's happening?" Buffy asked quietly.

Anya looked at Buffy and mustered all her tact. She walked to her friend, sitting them both down. "Wolf claimed Dawn…which you knew. But some time between them knocking us all out and the dead guy showing, Dawn made the claim mutual. I'm sure that's why Wolf suddenly decided to move to Sunnydale… Wolves weren't a community I ever did a lot of business in as a vengeance demon. They were more then married, they were bonded…They can't live without their partners."

Buffy looked her in the eye trying to glean the information she was searching for. "I still don't understand."

"Buffy… Unlike werewolves that pass their beast on like an infection, to become a wolf you have to choose. You can be claimed as a human mate and have that bind you to your spouse, but if you choose to claim them as well, you become a wolf… The pain Dawn is in, that feeling on something just below the surface is her wolf becoming comfortable in its new home," Anya calmly stated holding her friend's hand. "She isn't human any longer."

Buffy sat and stared blinking periodically. Spike saw the glazed look Buffy had. He got to his feet and held her in his arms. "It's okay, pet. It's not like she's been turned. She doesn't lose her soul and gain a demon… Your spirit guide was a panther, right?" Buffy looked at him with eyes brimming with tears. She nodded shortly. "Okay, well it's kind of like your spirit guide becoming part of you. She'll be able to shift into that form. Her wolf and his are mates so they will flow in and out of each other easily."

"Will she be okay? Will she have to eat rare meat or anything?" Buffy asked strangely. "That sounded stupid," she said with a laugh. 

"She'll be able to take care of herself much better then before… I think we just wanted so badly for her to retain some part of childhood and normalcy. We should know by now that's never going to happen," Spike said with a smile holding Buffy to him.

"Yeah," Buffy smiled. "Expecting that is about as likely as one of the three of us making it out of high school without a psychotic relationship."

"Hey…I better not be included as one of the psychotic relationships," Cordelia whined coming out of Angel's bedroom. "What'd ya do to the fiend formerly known as Angel?"

"Pulled an Oz," Willow explained. 

"Tranquilizers…Nice… I don't think I ever forgave him for thrashing the roof of my car. Then again my father lost my car so I guess I can't complain," Cordy stated.

"Ya'll had a weird high school experience," Gunn ventured. 

"And now so will Dawn," Buffy sighed.

"Hey pet…Better this, then…" Spike said turning to the group.

"Werewolf," Willow comforted. "No monthly shackling."

"Or bazor attachment," Xander added. "Those little critters very…"

"Clingy," Cordy finished.

"Yes…Thank you…"

"No problem," the seer said. 

"And she won't end up like that," Anya pointed at Angel, "when she loses her virginity."

"Not helpful sweetie," Xander said warmly. 

"Wes," Spike said to the former watcher. "A while back you saying there were three Clans in LA. One you think has probably died off, Ulrich's Clan and then a third. What do we know about the latter two?"

"Ulrich led his Clan very honestly and respectfully. His Clan was peaceful," Lorn said quietly.

"Then why all the wolves here pounding at the door," Willow asked.

"I'm not sure those wolves were from Ulrich's Clan," Lorn answered honestly. 

"How did they know to come here anyway?" Gunn asked.

"I'm sure there are other people with the same prophecies that we were looking at. I wager these guys have been waiting for Wolf to turn for years," Spike commented.

Buffy looked confused. "But what was special about last night? I know timing in some prophecies have little baring but it seems…"

"His power base was complete," Anya interrupted. "A pack of actual wolves are always present where the pack leader is…created. Wolf became complete with Dawn so the wolves wanted their shot to challenge the new leader so maybe they could be Ulrich."

Xander smiled, "I like dating the smart girl!" Willow laughed. 

"So prophecy said it would happen last night because he met Dawn?" Buffy said. "So this is really all your fault for re-opening your club," she turned to Lorn.

"Hey…" Lorn was taken aback.

"She's messing with your head," Cordy smirked. "You know any of the members of Ul…Ul-whatever's pack?"

"Clan…" both Lorn and Spike corrected. Lorn continued, "Yes I do."

"Well, why not invite one or two over to meet the new king? Lets see what they have to say," Cordelia said calmly. "We'll just have to make sure they don't get any bright ideas about unchaining Angel."

            "I'll go make the calls," Lorn said and slipped into Wesley's office. 

            "Now who wants to help me straighten up the lobby for company?" Cordy smirked.

TBC…


	12. Holding

Title: Holding

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Dawn wearily blinked her eyes and looked at her husband. Wolf was breathing short breaths into her neck, his face buried close to the bite marks he inflicted. Dawn smiled realizing she was attracted to the marks she left as well. She began to lick the marks gentle before she sucked on them more vigorously

            Wolf woke to his love lapping at his neck and lightly running her fingers over his exposed chest. His breathing became uneven at the sensation of pins and needles of electricity coursing through his skin. "Ahhh…Dawn," he groaned. 

            "Good to know even waking from a deep sleep you know its me you're waking up to," she whispered against his neck. 

One of Wolf's arms wound around Dawn's back to bring her closer to him. He looked at her with heavy eyes, touching her neck caressing her scar with his fingertips. Their lips met softly for the first time since they left his parents house. 

Dawn smiled brightly at him as he toyed with the hem of her sweater. "Ya know I'm an orphan now." Wolf spoke deliberately. 

"I know," she said her face falling. 

"Everything changed so fast… It was like I met the girl of my dreams, literally and my gut was doing flips. Then I finally get some clarity on what I am only to find out I have to drag you into my world. I claim you and shortly there after you're screaming in pain, then I am too because of these wings that hurt like hell going in and coming out." Dawn played with Wolf's hair as he spoke. He started kissing the expanse of arm she put near his face, "Now it's like I should be in tons of pain knowing my parents are dead, and yet as sick as it sounds, its like this was the time that was supposed to happen… I just don't know what to do with that."

"You'll grieve however is best," Dawn soothed. "And I'll be here for you, to listen." She was running her hands up and down Wolf's arms. He gave her this half smirk half bashful look. She laughed and rapped her arms around his neck. "Mine," she said outright. 

"Yours," he reiterated then pulled her back from him a little to look into her eyes. This soon led to the 'who can dart their eyes between lips and eyes the fastest' game before they started making out on the bed. 

As teenage boys go, Wolf did his best to keep his hands in non-erogenous zones but accidentally brushing Dawn's breast with his hand caused all the air to leave his lungs. "Ahhh…" he moaned as the soft material of her sweater plus the soft shape of her breast grazed his hand. 

"Go ahead," Dawn spurred him on. Wolf clenched his fist in order to avoid touching anymore of the soft shape that had fascinated him since puberty hit. "Top of the clothes… No harm, no foul," she whispered as she touched the bare skin of his chest. 

Wolf's resolve began to slip as Dawn rubbed her body against him in the most wonderful way, always brushing his arm with her breasts. Thinking about baseball and the guy covered in blood naked in the lobby weren't decreasing the painfully engorged member that was barely contained in the boxers Gunn had the good sense to put him in after bringing him into the bedroom. 

The mere thought of the man in the lobby threatening Dawn, commenting on her like she was a piece of property to be exchanged, pushed Wolf that much closer to taking her. As soon as the thought crossed his brain, so did the realization that they were only a few feet from Buffy and Spike. Wolf became flaccid very quickly at the idea. 

"Dawn…Dawn…" Wolf muttered into his love's ear. She looked at him with lust filled eyes causing his member to rapidly refill. He shuttered at the sensation. Swallowing before he spoke, "You have no idea how much I want you right now…but Buffy and Spike are just beyond that door." He panted, "Now as much as I want to make love to you, I'd like to live to do it more then once."

Dawn blinked a few times and nodded. "Tonight then," she said hungrily. 

Wolf took several deep breaths. "Honey, you've heard me groaning and you're just barely touching me. I can't even imagine what noises I'm going to make at seeing your body, touching it…" He looked at her wantonly, "being in it… I just don't think that's going to be possible here. Plus there's the whole lack of protection and…I can't believe I'm having this conversation." Wolf rolled away from Dawn's body. 

"What's wrong?" Dawn asked moving closer to Wolf again.

"I promised, Dawn. I promised Spike I wouldn't do this," he stated clearly sitting on the side of the bed with his legs over the side, away from Dawn. 

Dawn quickly surmised what this was about. "Spike and Buffy were meant to be together. That is why everything went wrong with her and Angel. That is why she got hurt so badly," she argued.

Wolf turned around to look at Dawn, "I've known you for less then one day. Doesn't that scare the hell out of you? You want to give me something as precious as your virginity and you haven't known me longer then twenty-four hours. Now I don't know how you were raised but I was raised to believe that making love was reserved for marriage… This is a lot for me to understand."

Dawn looked him in the eye, "We are married and you know it. I gave up my humanity so I could be like you. I wanted to do that and I'm glad I did. But love, the last twenty-four hours have bond us together stronger then any ceremony in front of a judge… We are both orphans. We've created our own family. I beyond realize how young I am, how young you are, but I've learned one thing very definitely from my sister, life is short. The concept that I have two more years of high school means nothing now that I'm with you. Not that its not important, its just we complete each other, and we have people who want us dead."

The small woman rapped her arms round her love's ribs. "I'll talk to Buffy. She'll be most reasonable, I think. Then we'll both talk to Spike… He won't kill you."

"I'm going to say this in the nicest way I can think of – Dawn you're not even street legal," Wolf said.

Dawn's brow furrowed, "Yeah, that was a really awful thing to say and rather disgusting too." She quickly pushed herself off the bed and headed for the door. 

Wolf caught her arm before she made it, "Please don't leave like this."

"Leave like what? Angry. Sorry Wolf, I get angry. I get frustrated and hurt. I'm not all smiles and sunshine… Obviously this isn't the way I wanted things to end up, but I'm pissed off. Give me a little space to cool off," she ground out. 

Wolf's face dropped. Dawn took a deep breath and looked him over. He appeared so defeated. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Dawn rapped her arms around his neck, kissing him sweetly on the lips. "It's okay," she responded scratching the base of his neck with her nails. 

"Can I just hold you for a while?" Wolf asked meekly. 

"That sounds wonderful."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Should we get the kids up?" Buffy asked Spike as everyone helped clean the lobby. "We still need to get them to get Angel his soul back."

            "Yeah… Buff, why don't we go into Angel's room for a minute," Spike moved Buffy.

            "Where do you think you're going?" Cordelia asked as they went to enter the bedroom.

            "Give me a break prom-queen. I need to chat with my lady," Spike snipped.

            Cordy looked him over confusedly, "Okay… You feeling alright."

            "Yeah… A lot on my mind," the blond responded.

            "What's with the brood boy impression?" Buffy asked, sitting on the bed. 

            "We need to talk about 1) whether or not I get my soul back and 2) what Wesley said about the claiming process," he said pulling a chair close to her. 

            Buffy was taken aback, "What have you done with my Spike? Cause you aren't my boyfriend if I drop a 'brood boy' crack and you don't respond."

            "Buffy I'm serious. A lot has changed in a short amount of time. Tinkerbell's been working on the spell I know but… God this is hard," Spike passed about the room.

            "Alright," Buffy said confusedly. "Talk cause now, I'm getting frustrated."

Spike looked her in the eye. "We need to talk about you pushing the claiming process."

            Buffy was shaken at how serious he was being. "What about it?" she swallowed a few times. "Are you sorry we did it?" she said looking at her hands.

            "In some ways, yah I am." Buffy's eyes shot up full of tears. Spike sat down next to her. "You still think I'm going somewhere. You think I'm going to leave. Deep down you don't trust my love for you…" Buffy looked down again. 

Spike sighed and stood to pace some more, "I told you last night… last night Buffy…that I would do the ritual with you, but that I would prefer something that included Dawn, that made us all family. That didn't matter to you this morning. You saw an opportunity and you went for it. You even baited my demon into acting… I would have done the ritual with you Buffy." He said stopping in front of her kneeling to be able to see her face, "I would have done it and made it special for you. I would have done my best to keep the violence out of the claiming, but you were so scared that I didn't want you or wouldn't do it of my own accord that you pushed."

            Spike cleared his throat, "I lay there with you next to me and realized it wasn't that you didn't think you live long enough to warrant us getting married, but that if we did that human ritual then you would have to compromise on things. That really hurts Buffy."

"What does this have to do with your soul?" Buffy asked through tears.

            "That's it. That's all you have to say…No 'I'm sorry.' No 'I was scared.' No 'you're right even.' Just 'what does this have to do with your soul'. I can't believe this," Spike grumbled pulling himself off the floor and heading out the door.

            His hand was on the knob when she called, "Where are you going?"

            "Away from you," he barked back.

            "That's it. You're leaving," she whimpered.

            Spike shot around to look at her with his patented pissed off glare, "I'm going to the lobby. I told you I'm not going to leave you no matter what crap you pull… I just can't believe you. I don't know why I bother. No matter what I'll always be playing catch up, won't I? Running against ghosts." He stepped close to Buffy's small frame, "You died Buffy, and I didn't leave. Why the hell would I leave now that we're at a good place?"

            "Because we're not at a good place. You're so mad at me," she fussed.

            "I get mad. You get mad when I screw up. I'm allowed to get mad when you screw up, that's the way a relationship works… Now I'm going to cool off and frustrate Wesley, unless you have something else you want to say to me," Spike said as calmly as he could muster. Buffy just looked down. "Fine."

            Spike strode out of the bedroom snarling quietly. Lorn heard the reverberations and went to his friend. "What's up Will?"

            "I hate that man," Spike growled pointing at Angel.

            "All is not well in Buffyverse," the green man guessed. Spike snarled at him, "Hey…Stop that. I'm not responsible for your wife's lack of trust."

            "Don't call her that," the blond vampire said as he deposited blood in the microwave. 

            Lorn regarded him for a moment. "She is your wife now Spike. Just like Dawn is Wolf's wife now. You are bound."

            "A forced bond," Spike said as the microwave pinged. 

            "Now you're going to have to explain that to me," Lorn asked.

            "Not here," he grumbled sipping on his food. 

            "Fine, we'll go in Wesley's office," the host said smoothly. "Wes can we have your office for a bit…the claiming thing." Wesley nodded and left the vampire and the reader in peace. 

            "What's going on?" Dawn asked Wolf.

            Now dressed and in the lobby again, the couple had watched Spike storm out of the bedroom angry. Wolf turned to his love and said, "You try. You're a wolf now, try your hearing."

            Dawn swallowed and looked at the glass between her and Spike. She concentrated on the sound of Spike's voice and soon could hear all that was going on inside.

            "So why are you angry at Angel and what does it have to do with the claiming process?" Lorn asked sitting on Wesley's desk while Spike sat in a chair forlorn.

            "The whole claiming thing with Dawn and Wolf threw Buffy for a loop. She wouldn't admit it but she wanted to be married before Dawn for obvious reasons," Spike sighed deeply. "We started to talk about it for the first time. Buffy never even a little made it seem like being married in my world or hers was important to her… Now suddenly it was a huge issue."

            "So you claimed her because she wanted you to, but you didn't want to?" Lorn said trying to figure things out.

            "Yes and No… I told her I would be happy claim her but I knew it was dangerous and I didn't want to hurt her. I also told her I would prefer to get married. I would take her name so that Dawn, she and I would all be Summers," the blond spilled. "I'm a Victorian ma, that offer was huge and yet she pulled this 'I'm going to die anyway so what's the point' thing."

            "So how did you end up claiming her?" the host asked confused.

            "When I drank from her to get better. I kept on saying how worried I was about taking that much blood. S decided this was her opportunity and wanted me to claim her then since I was taking a bunch of blood anyway. She said it was her only chance to have me. I got pissed and then she started goading me, asking me to bite over her other scars. Finally she resorted to saying that Angelus was willing to give her his bite…I lost it. My demon staked its claim good and proper," Spike said through gritted teeth. Then his manner changed, becoming very sullen. "I hurt her," he creaked. "I tore her," he said wincing, as did Lorn. 

            "And you can't forgive yourself for hurting her or her putting you in the position to hurt her," Lorn ventured.

            "Not just that… though that is awful… but the fact she didn't trust me enough to believe I would do it. She didn't want to wait or think about what I said I wanted. She just 'needed' to be claimed… I could have not caused her pain. I could have made it sweet and erotic instead of violent and painful."

            "And the hating of Angel comes from…" Lorn required further explanation.

            Spike looked exasperated, "For tearing her heart to shreds and leaving."

            "I think that wound is older Spike… Dawn actually calls herself an orphan. Buffy believes that too but can't speak the words. There's more insecurity there. I'll give you a hint…the divorce hit right after she became the slayer," Lorn advised. 

            Dawn stood outside the office listening. "Has Buffy come out of the bedroom?" she asked Cordelia.

            "No… Bleach boy came out upset so I let her be," she responded.

            "Thanks," the teen whispered. "Help clean up," Dawn instructed Wolf. He nodded and watched Dawn enter the bedroom. 

            Buffy was lying on the bed crying. Dawn crawled up next to her like a big cat. She hugged her sister from behind not asking what was wrong or how to help. She would just be there. 

TBC…


	13. Making Up

Title: Making up

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Buffy leaned into her sister at her back as she cried. Dawn gently stroked her hair soothing the strong emotions welling up inside the small Slayer. "I messed up," she whispered. 

            "Do you want to tell me or do you want to rest?" Dawn asked simply. She knew Spike's side, so she felt hearing Buffy's would be wise.

            Buffy sniffled, "I pushed Spike to claim me. Wesley's right I just jump without thinking. It's not that Spike didn't want to claim me…Well I guess he didn't want to claim me the way it happened… I just screwed up."

            "You pushed Spike to claim you? Doesn't he have to bite you? That sounds like a choice to me," Dawn drew her out. 

            "Not when I appealed to his jealousy. Not when I taunted his demon… I didn't even listen to what he wanted… This sucks. Just once I'd like to not be the one that screws up in this relationship," Buffy huffed. Dawn laughed. "What's funny?"

            "Do you not remember being chained in a cave all of a sudden?" Dawn smirked.

            "I mean since I've gotten back… I don't think you know how badly I used Spike before we got together," the older Summers girl sniffled. Dawn continued to stroke her sister's hair. "Dawnie, I treated him like he was a thing…and I told him so. I used him as a sex toy and a punching bag… I know that's not the way it is now but…its like I can't seem to get it into my head he has a choice, he has a say. I manipulated him," Buffy sobbed. "This mark on my neck that means we're married in the vampire world will always be tainted." 

            Dawn ran her fingers over the marks on her sister's neck. "Do you believe Spike wouldn't have claimed you?"

            "I…I… He says he would… We just never talked about it… I didn't realize deeply I felt about doing this until you and Wolf…" Buffy said in broken sentences.

            "Buffy…you wanted something more with Spike then you had with Angel and Riley. You wanted him not to be able to walk away," Dawn continued to stroke her sister's hair. "But you forgot the basic rule of Spike. He won't leave…No matter what…not even in death could you get rid of him." Buffy sniffled. "You need to apologize…in a big way. You also need to be there for him when he gets his soul."

            Buffy looked over her shoulder at Dawn confused. "Buffy, the souled Spike won't have processed his guilt like Angel has. Angel getting his soul back will be Angel. Spike getting his soul back will be someone else with a great deal of pain…Trusting his spouse will be a big thing he'll need. What do you want to bet he doesn't know if you'll even love him with his soul or if it will still be him?"

            "That's why these things were connected to him," Buffy muttered.

            "I'll get Spike. You get into grovel mode," Dawn said nodding her head curtly.

            "Dawnie… I know we'll need to talk about you and Wolf again. You're more then connected…you're bonded."  
            Dawn smiled and left the bedroom. Buffy lay back down and waited. 

            Wolf looked up smelling Dawn before seeing her. She waved to him then went to Wesley's office. "Pain…Lots of it… Go work on it…Now!" the teen commanded the vampire next to her. 

            "Nibblet…Things are complicated," Spike sighed.

            "Why? Buffy manipulated you into claiming her and now you aren't so certain about the whole soul thing? Scared of being bulldozed by my sister once you have your soul? Afraid you won't be able to trust her? How am I doing so far?" Dawn answered. Spike's eyes went big. "I know you bleach boy. I know how your mind works. Now go talk things through again with Buffy. Better result will occur, I promise."

            Lorn looked at the teen. "Good job." He turned to Spike, "Go on. Let me talk to your girl." Spike stood and left the room heading to see Buffy with his tail between his legs. 

            Lorn's red eyes came to rest on the key. "You, young lady, need a talking to as well."

            "Why? What did I do?" she asked shocked.

            "I hear a lot don't I? You were humming. I read you… You're doing to Wolf what Buffy just did to Spike," Lorn accused.

            "I am not," she defended. 

            "How can you classify touching Wolf until he's ready to explode not a manipulation to get him to sleep with you? He made it very clear, that wasn't something he was comfortable with. You're continuing to push. Stop thinking about what feels good and think about how awful Wolf would feel after sleeping with you. The guilt he would feel… He would give his life for you and he's known you less then a day. His virginity is harder for him to give up then his life at this point."

            Dawn stared at him, "This isn't about my age as much as it is about his virginity?" Lorn nodded. "Aren't guys supposed to want to get rid of their virginity from birth?"

            "No Dawn," Lorn laughed. "Everybody is different… Wolf was raised with a healthy respect for his body, his family, and women in general. It is part of the way he was raised. To do this would be like dishonoring his parents' memory."

            The teenage girl sat and thought about it. "So I've been pushing his buttons to do something he really isn't ready to do?"

            "Yeah," the green man answered. 

            "Well this sucks. I've been a wife for less then a day and I'm already a failure."

            "Dawn, I doubt Wolf would see you as a failure as a wife," Lorn said. "Go talk to him… Don't be in such a rush. A lot of the stuff that leads up to having sex is a lot of fun. Believe me. That's why people still do it after start having sex with their partner."

            Dawn looked at Lorn guiltily. "Thanks Lorn." 

            "No probably."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Spike slipped into the bedroom as quietly as possible seeing Buffy lying down like she was sleeping. He climbed up behind her, spooning her body. Spike wrapped his arms around her middle, holding her firmly against him. "I love you," he whispered as he kissed the mark her left on her neck. 

            Buffy turned in his arms pressing her body to his. "I love you too… I'm sorry… I… I wanted you to be different…I shouldn't have…" she mumbled over his shoulder. "I don't know why you don't leave me."

            Spike pulled her back to look her in the eye. "I don't leave you because I love you. I don't leave because I know you love me, no matter how bad things get. You're in my blood Summers. I can't live without you."

            Buffy leaned her forehead to Spike's. "I'm sorry for being manipulative. I should have believed you… I know this doesn't help the trust thing with us right now. If you want to wait to do the soul thing until we get back to Sunnydale or even if you don't want to do it at all that's fine. I love you. All the parts of you. Your soul will just be another part… I'm glad I have this time with you now. I'm afraid if I had fallen for you after you had the soul, you would always have thought I didn't love you…only the soul."

            "That, pet, was the best thing you could have said to me at this moment," Spike said kissing Buffy lightly, pulling her closer in the embrace. "We'll see how the kids feel after they get Angel done before we even think about me."

            "Sounds like a plan…" Buffy and Spike sat up and hugged again before heading to the lobby. "Spike," she tugged at him, "We may need to reconsider this whole no sex thing for Dawn and Wolf."

            "Why? What have they done?" Spike snipped.

            "Nothing that I know of, but they are literally flowing in and out of one another. They've done it three times today. I don't think there is anything more intimate then that. Now that Dawn is a wolf also I think its going to be very hard for her to not act on her desire," Buffy said flatly. 

            Spike blinked a few times and breathed deeply. "I can't think about that now…I really can't. Having heard her during the claiming ritual was hard enough. I don't think I can deal with them actually…"

            "Why don't we let them choose when? We just let them know we won't kill them," Buffy suggested. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Weren't we just in here Dawn?" Wolf asked. "I don't want to get into another fight."

            Dawn sighed. "I'm sorry." She patted the bed next to her. Wolf approached cautiously. "I was being a jerk. I wasn't listening to what you were telling me. I kept latching on to the age thing and not being allowed to do it…that I didn't even think about if we were ready to."

            Wolf watched Dawn play with her hands and look flustered. She bit the inside of her mouth, "I've been in such a hurry to grow up even before any of this happened that I haven't really given my chance to just be… I started to think what it would be like afterwards and I knew you would feel so guilty. I don't want that. I want you to be able to make love to me with a clear conscience… So I'm back at the thought that we're two teenagers in love. There is a lot of making out that we can do between now and then…whenever the then is." Wolf smiled at her almost cockily. "What?"

"I was just thinking what a hot wife I have," Wolf said kissing Dawn soundly. "Thank you," he whispered. "It goes against everything I was raised to believe… Thank you for understanding that."

            "I had some help from Lorn," she admitted.

            "Well then I'll thank him too. But now," Wolf said leaning Dawn back on the bed, "Now I want to try out that making out stuff you were mentioning."

            "Really," Dawn said raising an eyebrow.

            "Oh yeah," his whispered against her neck. Her fingers laced into his hair bringing him closer to the scar he had given her. Wolf licked her neck broadly, taking in the scars. "Every time I get near this I feel like I have to touch it, lick it," Wolf murmured. "It reminds me you're mine."

            "Well good," Dawn whispered pulling Wolf down more on top of her. "Cause I am…Yours." Wolf growled as she said the words. Dawn immediately growled back. 

            Both teens' canines elongated as the animal sounds they were producing got louder. Wolf was rubbing his body up and down Dawn's. They licked and nipped at each other's necks like puppy dogs. 

The panting and grunting had gotten loud enough to pull Spike into the room. "What's up guys?" Spike eyed them quickly. 

Wolf opened his eyes wide causing Spike to look away for a second because they glowed so brightly. Dawn glared too with glowing eyes. The snarling of both began to make Spike nervous. "Nibblet, you still in there?" 

Dawn began to pant more slowly and less angrily. "Just trying to make sure you don't take her head off, Wolf," Spike said calling to the human side to each. Wolf shook his head shaking himself back into control. Dawn took a little while longer to come back to herself. They both seemed dazed for some time. 

Buffy was in the room by then holding Dawn. "What's happening Spike?"

"I'm not sure."

"Our beasts want to mate," Wolf said deadpan not blinking at all staring at the wall. "A few more seconds and we both would have turned."

Spike knelt next to him. "How do you know that?"

"I can feel it in my blood. See it in my head… We had just finished talking about the fact that we were going to wait until we were both ready…I wasn't ready. It would be dishonoring my father… But as soon as I got near the marks, something took over. I just had to taste them, taste Dawn. Then it wasn't even us. I was still with Dawn but our animals were shoving us to where they normally reside," Wolf babbled. 

Spike grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Wolf as the boy rocked back and forth. Dawn was in a similar state of disconnection. 

"What are we going to do? They can't keep this up. They've been fighting the natural order of a claming process from the beginning," Spike paced away from the teens on the floor.

"What do you mean 'natural order'?" Buffy asked.

"Claiming is for lovers. The natural way things should go is: 1) He claims her they have sex. 2) She claims him they have sex. 3) Their beasts mate they have sex. Now I can promise each of them has gotten off during each claiming, but this last one won't be able to be stopped. They'll both change and their beasts will mate. From what I understand, the beasts will recede even as they are still coupled," Spike said wearily.

"So their beast visages will retract back into their human forms while he is still inside her?" Buffy asked for clarification.

"Yes," he growled.

"So we didn't have a shot in hell of them not consummating this relationship," the slayer observed.

"We had a shot when it was just one way. Now that it's mutual, there's nothing we can do to stop it," the vampire sighed. "What'll we do?"

"Guess, you're going to be Father of the bride after all."


	14. Wed

Title: Wed

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

A/N: I am in no way advocating 1) marriage as a teenager or 2) marriage after knowing someone for a night. This just helps round out the story. 

            Spike stared for a minute. "Ya still with me?" Buffy asked.

            "Yes…But I really don't like where this is heading," he responded.

            "Game plan… Dawn in one room. Wolf in another. We'll ask Lorn if he knows anybody that would do a ceremony for them. I'm her guardian so I can give permission for her to marry and Wolf's of age so that's not an issue…" Buffy realized Spike's eyes were glazed over. "Spike, this is going to happen. You said so yourself. Lets just make it as easy on Wolf as we can." Spike nodded dumbly. "Wolf," Buffy said tugging him to his feet. "You're coming with us."

            Buffy led a dazed Spike and Wolf into the lobby. "What the hell did you do to them?" Gunn asked abruptly.

            "Nothing! Take Wolf into another bedroom and stay with him… Put him off if he says he needs to see Dawn," Buffy instructed handing Wolf over.

            "Ah… Why? I've seen what he can do…I do not want it happenin' to me."

            Cordelia, Lorn and Fred stepped forward. "Fine… Apparently the claiming process involves the kids actually consummating the relationship. They've avoided at each stage but now their beasts are ready to mate and they won't be able to put that off. So I have to find someone to marry Wolf and Dawn, like now so Wolf won't go nuts about dishonoring his parents memory. I just think it will be easiest if we keep them apart… Spike just looks like this because I said he would be the actual Father of the Bride. Shock and all," Buffy laid out. "I was hoping you know someone," she said to Lorn.

            "Well…Yeah… One of the guys that's already coming… He made some comment on the phone about us needing him but I didn't think about it until now. Guess he knew what we didn't," Lorn commented. 

            "Okay… I'll go tell the others and hope they respond okay. Fred could you stay with Dawn and Lorn stay with Spike till he snaps out of this," Buffy organized. 

            "What's up Buffy? Spike looks like the walking dead. Oh wait he is," Xander joked. 

            "Funny one… Uh…Guys…" the slayer mumbled.

            "The claim has caused you to lose your slayer strength," Willow said worriedly.

            "No…"

            "You'll fulfill a prophecy having Spike's demon baby," Xander asked.

            Spike was in hearing range and the whelps comment struck him as funny. "Haaa…" the vampire chuckled.

            "Back from your stress induced fugue," Buffy said hugging him around the middle. Everyone looked at her dumbly. "Hey I did take psychology, remember!"

            "Just tell us what's wrong," Anya insisted. "I hate to wait. You know that."

            Buffy and Spike looked at one another. "Dawn and Wolf will be getting married today…like as in really married. Legally married," Buffy said holding Spike's hand. 

            "Why?" Tara asked very concerned.

            "Because the claiming process… Wolf was raised very traditionally. Claiming is normally for lovers. Dawn and he aren't," Spike answered.

            "Can't the _claiming_ be put off?" the blond witch asked.

            "I wish…" Buffy said flippantly. "The beasts are taking over. I think they would be slightly traumatized by shifting from wolf to human form still joined… Look I'm not happy about this, none of us are. But this makes the most sense… Apparently one of Wolf's clan members is someone who could perform the ceremony. He's on his way."

            "You're going to let Dawn get married? Is that even legal?" Xander asked confusedly. 

            "I'm her guardian. I'll sign off on it," Buffy explained. 

            The sound of the front door to the hotel opening caused all action in the lobby to stop. Two men entered very confidently, each man with his own distinct look. One man was dressed as if he were a Chicago crime boss of the 1920's, clipped mustache and all. The other, who was presumably the priest since he bore the white collar, was taller, thinner, and darker. Everything about this man gave you the feeling you were glad he was one of the good guys, or at least you hoped he was. His eyes weren't violet like Wolf's; they were green in the center and dark purple on the outside. 

            "Good morning Lorn," the priest said in a thick Romanian accent. "We are here to collect out young Ulrich."

            "That's not going to be happening Gabriel," Lorn responded.

            "Not even if we ask nicely," the other man said.

            "I certainly hope Caleb wasn't sent here by either of you," the host said strongly.

            The wolves looked at each other and cursed in foreign tongues. Gabriel clenched his jaw. "You believe we would send that Fenris, that killed our beloved Ulrich to slaughter his only son?"

            "Sing for me and we'll know won't we?" 

            Each man growled and snarled. "Hi there…Former Hyena…How ya doing?" Xander steeped in trying to lighten the mood. 

They sniffed at Xander then turned back to Lorn. "I will sing, since it is obvious your group does not trust us," Gabriel responded.

            "Sorry, but the last wolf that walked through that door was covered in blood and tried to kill my sister and brother in law. Not going to be to big with the happies!" Buffy let her presence be known.

            Gabriel eyed her, "Yes…The slayer… I am Gabriel and this is Phillip… We will be part of your extended family now." Buffy took his hand briefly. He noticed the scar on Buffy's neck and recoiled. "Then it is true. You have tainted yourself with the blood of a vampire."

            "Hey… I'm the vampire," Spike said making his way into the conversation. "I know vamps and wolfies don't get along very well, but lets just put that aside for the sake of the kids."

            Phillip looked Spike up and down, "You… You are…different. But somehow familiar." 

            After scrutinizing one another for a minute, Spike smirked. "Yes… You were in a clan in Italy that I knew the Luppa… As you recall, I returned her to your clan no worse for wear."

            Phillip nodded slowly, "I always wondered about you two."

            "Ancient history."

            A growl emanated from Phillip's chest, "You have a taste for powerful women."

            The smirk returned, "I just love women… I fact I love this woman. She is my wife. You can see that. None before, none after."

            "And your sister, slayer, is she strong enough to be a Luppa?" Gabriel considered Buffy.

            "Dawn is older then time or haven't you done your homework," she snapped.

            "Yes, but she is in the body of a child… You will want to take her home and protect her… We will want to take her home and let her reign," the priest said.

            "She may not reign in Sunnydale…but she will no longer need protecting," the slayer answered. 

            "Her rightful place is with us now," Phillip answered.

            "Wolf doesn't seem to think that," Spike interjected. "_He_ is your Ulrich. _He_ has taken all of his belongings from his father's house to be with his wife. **_He_** has chosen to move to Sunnydale."

            Gabriel smirked, "Very good vampire. But that will leave us without an Ulrich. What would you have us do?"

            "Bend the rules," Spike answered. "Clans have done it in other areas. Allow yours to elect a leader rather then kill for one. Wouldn't your people be more comfortable with a ruler they know?"

            "After our young Ulrich's performance last night, I don't know," Phillip answered.

"I still want to hear you sing," Lorn said defiantly. The four bickering adults turned to the green man. "You were outside last night, Phillip. I'd like to hear you sing first."

            "No!" he said strongly.

            Gabriel turned quickly to his friend. His eyes flicked up and down. "Why not? He will not hear anything that isn't true."

            Phillip's jaw set. "I will not be treated like some traitor to my people."

            "Than stop behaving like you are one," Gabriel growled. His hand came up to the nape of his 'friend's neck clutching tightly. In the most animalistic voice possible the priest said, "Tell me why you killed my friend or I will kill you right now!" Claws began to form about the other wolf's throat.

            "I didn't…" Phillip begged. "Ulrich…He said he was tired…" The nails of the claws began to rip at his skin. "He said he wished his son could just take over."

            Gabriel's teeth were now apparent. "Ulrich has been saying that for years. Why now?" Blood began to drip down Phillip's neck. After a long period of silence Gabriel spoke, "Vampire…You may drink your fill of this one…He is not one of us."

            "No…" Phillip yelped watching Spike vamp out. "Fine…Fine… Caleb. His clan was almost dead. If he could become Ulrich of our clan then we could combine the two. It sounded like a good idea until…"

            "Until you saw what he did to Ulrich… Goodbye Phillip," Gabriel spoke and broke Phillip's neck. 

            "Great! More blood on the floor. We just cleaned up," Anya complained. "We just got rid of the other body. Can't you guys get organized?"

            "An…Not now," Xander tried to silence his love. 

            "Well I for one have seen enough wolf wars for a while," Cordelia said momentarily before she grabbed her head. "Get the kids…We need this wedding to happen now!"

            "Why?" Spike asked concerned. 

            "They're going to turn soon but they will fight not mate… Now people!" she said grabbing Dawn from the bedroom. 

            "Gunn…Bring Wolf out here," Buffy shouted. "I am not going to let my sister die of sexual frustration…literally," she grumbled.

            Gabriel looked stunned. "Who are all you people?" he asked taking in the energy of each different person and their _talents._

            "Family," Buffy commented. 

            "Wolf… Wolf… Look at me boy," Spike said shaking him. Wolf looked him in the eye. Spike smiled, "You're going to marry Dawn now. Look we have a priest…"

            The teen just stared for a moment then blinked a few times. "Father Gabriel?"

            "Yes son…we'll talk later. Right now lets make your claiming legal in the eyes of man and God," he said in the most reassuring tone.

            "Dawnie… Look at me sweetie," Buffy said stroking her hair. Dawn's eyes came on Buffy's face and flashed purple. "Hang on Dawnie… You and Wolf are going to get married okay." Dawn just considered her a moment. 

            Spike came over and hugged Dawn. "Hey Nibblet. Going to play father of the bride walking you to your husband, right?"

            The teen blinked a few times and focused on Spike's face. A tear rolled down her cheek. "I'd like that."

            No music or flowers, just a dead body on the floor surrounded by blood. Spike walked Dawn to Wolf and put their hands together. "I love you," he whispered and stood with Buffy. Gabriel spoke the words used in such occasions. They nearly had to skip the ring exchange for lack of jewelry but ended up using one of Spike's silver skull things for Wolf and a jade ring of Tara's for Dawn. 

With vows exchanged and commitments made, the teens kissed sweetly. When they broke apart, their eyes were glowing. "Sound proof room?" Spike demanded taking Wolf by the shoulder while Buffy did the same with Dawn. 

"Yours," Cordelia responded.

"Beside that," Buffy snapped.

"Room directly below," Fred answered.

"Thanks," Buffy smiled taking her sister swiftly toward the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked as they arrived in front of the room.

Buffy spoke as the four entered the room, "Making sure you don't eat each other."

"Buffy!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Not like that," the slayer fussed.

"That you can do all you want," Spike said.

"Spike!" the Summers women yelled in unison while Wolf turned red.

Buffy turned to Dawn, "Cordelia saw you two eat each other in your animal state rather then mate. Spike and I will just be in the bathroom while you guys get started and once your beast start mating we'll leave."

"Like hell you will. This is going to be hard enough just because neither were ready for this. There is no way either of us will be able to do anything with you in the next room," the brunette argued.

"We can't listen through the wall like last time because this is a sound proof room. We thought it would give you more privacy from the others," Spike said swiftly. "Believe me man. You'll want that… I lost my cherry after I was turned. There are noises you will make you didn't think possible." Wolf grew redder. 

            Dawn was furious, "Wasn't the whole point of us getting married right then to head off this impending doom?"

            "Yeah, but…" Buffy went to say.

            "Then get the hell out. Check in a couple hours."

            "No way… You could be dead by then," Spike argued. 

            "Fine…Then you two have sex in the bathroom," was Dawn's solution.

            "Excuse me?" Buffy replied incredulously. 

            "You heard me… Maybe the noise will be inspiring…but at least we won't be the only ones making noises and being embarrassed."

            Buffy just gaped while Spike took her arm. Dawn nodded as they entered the bathroom. 

            "What the hell are you doing?" Buffy yelled as Spike began to undress.

            "This is the only way we can stay," he said pulling off his boot. "Nibblet hears us every morning." Spike turned on the shower to create white noise. "It also gives her the illusion that we'll be occupied… Would you have wanted an audience your first time?"

            Buffy pouted and began to undress. "This has been a really weird day!"

TBC….


	15. Mating

Title: Mate

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Wolf sat on one side of the bed in a chair while Dawn stood on the other. "Well," Dawn said rocking back and forth on her heels. "We're really married," she said with a gulp. Wolf just looked at her with pleading eyes.

            "I don't understand any of this," he whispered. 

            Dawn breathed deeply and walked over to her now official husband. She reached out a hand to him to stand. She turned on the radio next to her flipping until she found something slow. "Just like the claiming…Nature will take its course."

            "Why does this have to be so hard? Why can't things happen on our time table?" he fussed as they began to dance.

            "Wolf with the claiming we did it because it was important that we not be separated. This time it's so we don't kill each other… We were doing pretty good with the whole hot and heavy thing before." Wolf chuckled. "Let's just take it easy and start with the making out part," she said having wrapped her arms around him. "I love you…We're going to get through this." Suddenly Wolf laughed. "What's so funny?"

            He laughed harder, "Has there ever been a man in history more afraid of this then me? Has there ever been a man who had to be eased into making love to his wife for the first time?" He closed his eyes and rested his forehead to Dawn's. "I love you so much…but this intimidates the hell out of me."

            Dawn smiled stroking the back of Wolf's neck with her fingernails. "I'll see what I can do about that," she whispered letting her touch turn him on. She watched the hairs on his arms stand on end and his body tense. She trailed one hand down his chest scratching right above his belt line. 

            "Oh god," Wolf gulped. "What you do to me?"

Dawn tugged him back toward the bed climbing back on it. She kept tugging on him until he crawled up her body on the bed. "That's better…There's my wolf," she said softly. Dawn reached for the edge of Wolf's t-shirt. He froze. She smirked at him. "We don't exactly fit together dressed."

            He blanched a bit but pulled his shirt over his head. Dawn had seen Wolf's physique before but this was the first time it truly affected her. His torso was longer then Spike's and his muscles weren't as defined but they were defined enough to make her mouth water, literally. "Honey… We need to speed this up," she said as she licked his stomach. 

            Wolf hissed as she sucked at one of his nipples. "Why?" he asked.

            "Because I don't know if my mouth watering at the sight of you is a sexual thing or a wolf thing," Dawn answered completely unconcerned with her sister's presence in the next room. 

            Her love smiled down at her, becoming bold and pulling off her sweater. "That's easy," he whispered nipping at the tops of her breasts in her bra. "You always made my mouth water," Wolf smirked trailing kisses down Dawn's body to the middle of her stomach where he licked broadly.

            "You're getting less shy," she said looking into his eyes between kisses.

            "Just remembered I'm a seventeen year old boy. Hot girl on the bed wanting me, nothing to keep me from her, my attention came into focus," he answered. Dawn laughed. Wolf raised an eyebrow, "I'm doing good, huh? Making sure you have a good time?"

            He leaned down and nipped Dawn's neck. "Oh yeah… really good time being had."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "This is very weird," Buffy said as she and Spike rolled around on the floor to make noises to fool Dawn. "We could just have sex… I mean why'd we get undressed?"

            Spike smirked at her, "So that when they've… well…started, we don't have to waste time." He pulled her close. 

            "Cold tile…Cold boyfriend. I need some heating up," Buffy toyed with Spike.

            "You're evil pet. We're supposed to be making sure Nibblet doesn't go 'kill or be killed' on Wolf," he insisted as she started to suckle his ear. "Ahhh…You know what that does to me."

            Buffy smiled. "Yeah I do. Dawn specifically said we had to come in here and have sex. She's heard us enough to know if we're faking it," she reasoned. "Wouldn't want to break a promise," she said as she ran her hand over him.

            "Ahhh…Pet… Lord above you're good at that," he said kissing her soundly. "Can't break a promise," he moaned before feasting on Buffy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Dawn lay beneath Wolf on the bed as they kissed deeply and touched frantically. Wolf still hadn't gotten comfortable touching Dawn anywhere he 'wasn't supposed to.' He ran his hands over her arms and stomach and would occasionally graze the tops of her breasts but never held them. Dawn pushed Wolf up causing a look of general confusion to mare his face, until of course she flicked the clasp at the back of her bra. 

            Wolf's heart rate and breathing picked up a ton as he blinked rapidly. She didn't shrug the lingerie off but went back to kissing her love allowing him the time to adjust. Dawn knew too well Wolf had been avoiding touching where she desperately wanted him to. Unclasping her bra gave him permission to touch without words.

            This was a new puzzle Wolf was entirely unfamiliar with. He leaned Dawn back down against the bed as he kissed her shoulder pushing the strap down with his mouth. She smiled pulling her arm from the strap. Wolf made love to Dawn's mouth with his tongue while removing the offending piece of clothing with his eyes shut, knowing if her were to look at her chest he would stare. 

            "They won't bite," Dawn giggled bringing Wolf's palm to her naked skin.

            "Ahhh…" he groaned touching the soft flesh of her breast. Dawn moaned as her began to rub her chest. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "What was that?" Buffy snapped as she and Spike made love slowly on the bathroom floor.

            "Dawn moaning," was his answer before moving her hips manually above him.

            Buffy hissed with excitement, "I really shouldn't be getting excited by the sound of my baby sister having sex."

            "You've always been an audio girl," Spike said sitting up for a face-to-face position. 

            "Oh god…" moaned Wolf through the door. 

            "Come on baby. Let's give'm something to listen to," Spike said rocking with Buffy more steadily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "What was that?" Wolf groaned as Dawn continued to run her hand down the front of his pants.

            "Spike and Buffy," Dawn said breathlessly licking his neck.

            Wolf looked down at Dawn with a smile, "You like to hear them."

            "What can I say? I've always been an audio girl."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "They're making…uh…wonderful…agh…sounds," Buffy groaned getting off on the voyeurism. 

            "And they're not even at the good part yet," Spike answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "They sound like they're having a really good time," Wolf commented, looking at the bathroom door then looking back at Dawn who had a fine sheen of sweat on her face and chest.

 "I just…want to…" he leaned down and took one nipple into his mouth. Dawn hissed. Wolf pulled away quickly, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Dawn panted. "That felt really good."

"Really?" Wolf asked almost bashfully.

"Oh yeah," she said pulling him back to her chest.

**A/N: I'm doing what I did in the last series. I'll classify this next section as NC- 17 for safety sake. Skipping this next section will not interrupt the flow of the story. If you are under 18 please don't read. I will yank it if anyone I know as being underage reviews it.**


	16. Dhampire

Title: Dhampire

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Dawn and Wolf just stared at one another for a moment trying breath normally again. Still nestled inside her, Wolf kissed Dawn very slowly and lightly before resting his head on her bare chest. She stroked his hair kissing the top of his head. He just clung to her like see was the only thing keeping him afloat. 

            "Guess we just proved that we can always bring the other pleasure through the bite, huh?" Dawn ventured.

            "What makes you say that?" Wolf asked calmly. Dawn blushed. "You blushed… You actually blushed. Something about this finally has gotten to you."

            She just shook her head, "Well… I've never done this before. I don't know what we're supposed to talk about afterwards… Besides, shouldn't be falling asleep?"

            "Ah…No… Too much fun watching you squirm. So what was this about the biting?" Wolf said looking up from her chest. 

            She took a deep breath, "You bit me twice…I…ya know…twice."

            He couldn't help but smile then scoffed, "Are you suggesting that it wasn't my incredible talents as a lover that did that?" Wolf then laughed out right at Dawn's worried face. "I imagine you're right since I've never down that before…but I did know you come apart at the seams when I bite you," he smirked.

            Dawn just shook her head. "Shouldn't we be shifting or something?"

            "I don't know…Maybe God has smiled on us and it will take days to shift…Which means your beloved family won't let us out of here," he gave her a lecherous glance.

            She could immediately feel Wolf hardening inside her. Shocked for a second Dawn said, "Really went from the Catholic school boy to the romp king, haven't you?"

            Wolf had the good sense to look ashamed in front of his bride. "Sorry about that… Not sure how to detach here."

            Dawn's eyebrow rose, "Same way you got in buddy."

He laughed and slid out as gently as possible. They shifted positions so Dawn's head was on Wolf's chest then. He just stroked his wife's hair and breathed deeply. "I love you."

Dawn looked up and smiled, "I love you too." They kissed briefly enjoying the close feeling they shared. Soon the light kisses they were feasting on grew in intensity. 

Wolf's eyes glowed purple in response. "I'm going to change," he growled.

Dawn looked into his eyes and hers flashed purple as well. "Buffy," she called. "We're both about to change."

Buffy and Spike were still in the bathroom frolicking away when the call came. "Bloody Hell," Spike shouted since he was on the verge of a wonderful release. "Grr…We're finishing before we leave." 

Buffy just smiled at him as they separated gently and put on minimal clothing in order to check on the kids. She opened the door just in time to see the very naked bodies of her sister and now brother in law pressed together and changing to wolves.

"I don't think I'm never going to get used to seeing that. Even with Oz it was creepy," Buffy commented. 

"Oz was a werewolf…bigger and still human shaped. They are all wolf," Spike said acknowledging the two beasts sniffing each other and rolling around together. When the male wolf mounted the female Spike jerked Buffy back into the bathroom, "Time to go… Do need to see that…" He swiftly pulled Buffy's shirt over her head. "There we go back to lovin' and impending bliss," Spike said yanking down his pants.

"Poor Spikey…wants to cum so bad," Buffy teased his bottom lip pressing her to him. 

"Yeah and I'm going to make a mess on the floor if you keep that up," he said as she tugged at his engorged member. 

"Wouldn't want that, would we?" she answered kissing Spike deeply before getting back to their lovemaking. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Shouldn't we be worried?" Fred asked looking toward the room door that the Summers clan had adjourned to.

            "You want to go up and check?" Gunn asked her.

            "Yeah you really don't want to interrupt Buffy when she's having sex," Cordelia observed. "I found out the hard way." Her friends just stared at her. "I needed to get… Never mind!"

Fred looked confused. "Why would they be having sex?"

            "Because by this point if they weren't, they'd have come out," Cordy answered.

            "They could all be dead," the toothpick worried. 

            Connor lay sleeping in Angel's room. "I think our small Dhampire would have woken to the smell of the blood," Wesley added.

            "Can you explain to me why we're in two camps right now? The Sunnydale verses the LA groups. Aren't we all worried?" Fred asked.

            "No… The Scoobies know Buffy in all capacities," Cordelia answered. "They're concerned about either being in the way or figuring out how to accommodate what Buffy and Spike have already said will happen with the boy."

            "Thus being why Willow and Tara are talking with Father Gabriel," Wesley commented setting his coffee on the counter looking over his prophesies of the two teenagers in the hotel.

Gunn looked at both former Scoobies, "Do you ever miss it? Them? What you did there?"

Cordelia and Wesley looked at one another. "No," they said in unison. Gunn scoffed.

"Look Gunn… I left because I really was never a close member. I stopped patrolling and helping when Xander and I broke up. One last hurrah when we graduated but that was it. I wasn't going to college there. I wasn't going to get stuck on the Hellmouth forever. I know I'm supposed to be here now, for a lot of reasons, but that place sucks the life out of you," Cordy answered. "Xander and Willow had to stay for Buffy. They've started families there. Part of their daily life is protecting the world from the evil that can run rampant and destroy the world there. Here, we kill a lot of demons and most of our contact with the end of the world has to do with Angel and Connor."

"For me it was simply Buffy rejected me as her Watcher. I could never be Giles… And Faith who was my true charge didn't trust me enough to come to me when she needed help. I did what I was told rather then what I thought was right… I had no reason to go back," Wesley explained.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Xander asked Anya.

"Us, I'm sure," she answered.

"Guys," Willow called their attention back to the Father and herself. "Listen to this." The couple approached.

"What I was telling your friend here is as a Clan without a leader we are dead in the water. The Fenris group will keep killing members off until they can get to Wolf," Father Gabriel said. 

"What about declaring Wolf an outcast by breed?" Anya suggested.

"Excuse me?" the Father asked.

"To be an Ulrich, my understanding is you must be a pure wolf. Wolf isn't. He is a Xex as well. Because of his transformation he no longer is a pure Wolf," she said straightforward. 

"Would that work?" Willow asked quickly.

Father Gabriel considered, "Perhaps…But we will still run the risk of a Fenris attempting to rule over our Clan."

"Why couldn't you do it?" Spike called from up above almost at the stairs by the time anyone noticed Buffy and he had left the room. 

"Hey…guessing no munching?" Cordy asked Buffy.

"No… Thank you for…well…using your gift," the slayer smiled appreciatively. "They are just happy wolfies…happily mating."

"Should we be worried about Dawn getting pregnant with cubs?" Xander asked suddenly concerned.

"Crap!" Buffy exclaimed. "I have no idea if they used any sort of protection… Wait panicking for nothing…"

"Why, pet?" Spike asked in her ear.

"Female thing," she answered.

"Not going to tell me?"

"Fine… Dawn went on the pill earlier this year for her cramps…happy?" Buffy asked looking him in the eye.

"I didn't need to know that," he shook his head.

"Wesley, just tell me there is no impending prophecy my sister will have a baby and I'll be a happy camper," Buffy engaged him as Spike went to talk to the priest. 

"I've not found one…" he said looking up at Buffy who had bright eyes. "But I haven't ruled it out as a possibility for either of you."

Spike spun around fast, "Who were the 'either of you' in that statement mate?"

"Dawn has changed forms so I don't know what will happen or if normal contraceptives would even work…" Wesley eyed Buffy carefully, "I've spent part of the morning researching Dhampires. It looks like you and Spike are good candidates to have one," Wesley commented as the slayer and the blond vamp gawked.

Spike's eyes went big; "You might have mentioned that before we headed upstairs a couple of different times today!"

"Hey… I'm telling you of potentialities not certainties."

Buffy's face was flushed, "Yes, but you go by the premise it's physically impossible, shy of the Powers intervening, you don't think about, say condoms, Wesley!"

"Easier there slayer…Friend not Foe," Gunn said getting in front of the small woman. 

"I suggest you buy condoms for a while then," Wesley announced going back to studying his book.

Spike leaned over and grabbed the watcher's shirt. "You're holding out on us," he growled.

Wesley looked up from the book and sighed, "I discovered in my research…If you really are as Angel said 'the seventh of seven' then you're destined to have a child… It appears it will be a slayer."

Buffy lost her footing, but Gunn quickly saved her from puddle mode, sitting her down slowly. "Buffy and Spike are going to have a baby?" Xander asked more interested in the opposite side of the room's discussion rather then his that had stopped. 

"I never said anything about Buffy. It doesn't say the mother will be the slayer just the child… Spike could out live you by a great many years, Buffy. This child could be conceived in two hundred years from now," Wesley explained looking at the two people hyperventilating in his presence. 

Spike had let go of Wesley and stumbled to a chair. He breathed deeply before speaking, "But you don't think so, do you? You think it will be Buffy because I claimed her…that's why you were actually worried. You don't think we will have the problems the other human / vampire couples have had because Buffy's the slayer. You were concerned because of what you read about the potential for a Dhampire slayer to be created."

Wesley said nothing just stared at the vampire who could read him so well. "Would they kill her?" Buffy asked quietly.

            "Who?" the British man asked.

            "The Council!" she shouted. "They hate me already. I may be the longest living and 'best' slayer they've had in over a century, but they do hate me. Would…they…kill…her?" Buffy ground out.

            "I honestly don't know," Wesley said quietly.

            "What Bloody help is that?" Spike spat. Spike quickly went to Buffy and took her in his arms. "Those gits leave Angel alone…maybe… Maybe they won't…" Spike began to cry for his future daughter.

            The lobby stood still and watched the future parents or potential parents cry together on the floor. 

TBC…


	17. Hope

Title: Hope

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

A/N: Alright guys, I posted three chapters and got very few reviews… If you don't like a chapter still review. My feelings don't get hurt. Please review! 

Tara crossed over to her crying friends on the floor after a few minutes of silence from them. "Buffy," she addressed detangling her from Spike. "Listen to me…" Buffy nodded. "We have to keep hope… Instead of dwelling on how the Council might interfere, think of the ways the Powers are making this possible… We had no idea why Wolf would transform when he did since he wasn't staying here. Now we know… Wolf and Dawn can easily patrol for you while you're pregnant. We've seen what they're capable of. I doubt that the Powers would go this far out of their way to protect us and transform Wolf if there wasn't a reason… They want this child. Who would be the best vampire slayer… another vampire except with a soul and conscience. What is a dhampire? A vampire with a soul and conscience."

Buffy blinked a few times trying to comprehend what she was hearing. "Tara's right," Willow said quickly. "The prophecy says Spike will father a slayer… not a baby that is supposed to be a slayer and is killed in infancy… Besides with the lot of us around to protect you and the baby you got no worries. No measly watcher, no offense Wesley, is going to keep my future god daughter from being born." Wesley smiled at the witch.

Spike held Buffy close trying to gage how she was feeling. He kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear. "I'd die to protect you both. We can do this Buffy. We can raise a slayer to have as normal a life as possible. We can also train her better then any watcher could. We just have to keep hope alive." He knew it was a cheesy line but in the end he figured she would probably get hormonal soon and cheese was good for making things sound nice. 

She looked him in the eye and brought his hand to her stomach. "That's exactly what we have to do: Keep Hope alive." He considered her a moment. "Hope is what I want to name her."

Spike smiled like a proud father should. "We don't even know she's in there yet pet."

"I can find that out quickly," Tara said. "There's a spell…"

"Oh no… No spells near my wife's stomach. Besides that would take the fun out of trying to get Buffy pregnant," Spike smirked.

"What do you mean 'trying to get Buffy pregnant'?" Dawn said from the stairs long hair still wet from her shower. Wolf was still getting dressed.

"While you were mating, Wesley discovered a prophecy that said Spike would father a dhampire slayer," Anya explained. "By the way what does it feel like to mate as an animal?"

"Anya… Age appropriate material," Xander said firmly.

"But she did it," Anya objected.

"For me… I don't need to think about my practically little sister mating in any form, okay? I still have a hard time with the fact she's married," Xander replied.

"Okey dokey…Back to impregnating Buffy, please," Dawn said with a frustrated sigh. "Another prophecy… Can't they take a break on our family for a while? We've been a little over run with prophecies lately."

"Well right now Nibblet, we're just concerned what the Council will try to do to the baby," Spike responded.

Dawn's brow knit together in a look of absolute hostility. "Ah nothing… They've done enough damage already. They don't get to take her away, or train her, or kill her, or get her killed…" Confusion took over, "Wait a dhampire slayer… Won't that mean she'll be like Connor and want blood and grow fast?" Dawn asked.

"Probably," Spike answered.

"Will Buffy's pregnancy go faster too?" she asked.

"I don't think so," Cordelia responded. "Darla was pregnant for nine months with Connor… I'd be more worried about Buffy needing blood to sustain the pregnancy."

"I don't actually think that will be a problem," Wesley ventured. "If Buffy is to be the mother of the dhampire then it should proceed normally since she has a body that is quite resilient. As for the Council, as far as I know none of them know Spike is 'the seventh of seven,' which I'm not sure I grasp the meaning of anyway. It isn't in the literature on him as a vampire… It would be safe to say they might encourage you to abort the child when they found out you're pregnant for the sake of your calling but I doubt they'll assume it's a dhampire. We'll just need to keep the claim hidden from them as best as possible…that would mean not telling Giles. He may no longer be official but they keep more then a small watch on him because of his connection to you."

"What are you saying Wesley? That they spy on him," Buffy asked.

"Let's just say if what they asked me to do is any indication of what they would be willing to do…then no form of communication with him is safe," Wesley admitted.

"So the Council knows I was dead and in heaven and anything else I've told him… Like I'm living with Spike!" she yelled at the former watcher. "How are they not going to guess that if I'm pregnant its Spike's kid."

"Well, you didn't think it was possible before this conversation love… They'll probably assume you cheated on me…but they probably will look into it," Spike answered. "I doubt we could hide it for long."

"If I might make a suggestion," Father Gabriel said joining the group. "I don't know this Council but I can offer how things were presented with Wolf's conception." All eyes turned to the man. "Ulrich had chosen a wife outside of the clan…a white witch. This marriage was non-traditional in our clan but was accepted because he was our Ulrich. However when Wolf was conceived the threat against our clan grew primarily because during the pregnancy Ulrich was on guard for his wife rather then the clan. Ulrich tried to hide it from of elders, which only made the situation worse, because it proved the fears of our members that the Ulrich had divided loyalties… My suggestion is to come to your Council with the cards on the table, at least for the pregnancy. Tell them the precautions you will take to guard your Hellmouth and slayer. Also say up front abortion is not an option. Later when they realize the calling of the child it will be a non issue because the child has already arrived." The thick Romanian accent flooded the room.

"I didn't know that there were issues with the clan over Wolf's conception," Lorn said briefly.

"My green friend, we do not tell you everything," the Father replied. 

Wolf stood at the top of the stairs. "My father chose my mother and me over the clan?"

"Yes…just as you chose your bride over the clan…but I can see now that there are powers at work here that are beyond my arguments. We will find another solution," Gabriel said. "I will tell the elders of your calling to this Hellmouth. It will be good enough…"

Spike looked the priest over, "Still think you should look into taking the position. You obviously care very much for your clan."

"Yes but if I were to pass whom would care for the souls of our clan?" Gabriel answered. "I will return later to tell you of the elders thoughts. Perhaps they will wish to see you Young Ulrich."

"Don't call me that," Wolf pled. "Dad just died… I've always been Wolf before." Gabriel smiled. Suddenly Wolf looked confused; "Does this mean our church is made up of the members of my clan?"

The priest smirked, "Never would have guessed would you?" Wolf shook his head. "That is how it should be…We are just people trying to live out lives. I will take my leave now," the gentleman said and left the room. "Good luck slayer…I look forward to the reign of your Hope. I'm sure she will be splendid… Dhampires have classically been the best vampire hunters because past a certain point they don't age or weaken… Be well."

"I didn't catch that last part," Wolf said.

"While you were mating…"

"Anya!" the room erupted.

"Buffy and Spike are going to have a baby girl. The prophecy says it will be a dhampire, like Connor, and a slayer. A lethal combination for the undead variety," Dawn explained. 

Wolf looked confused and worried, "Who will protect the Hellmouth while you're pregnant?"

Spike and Buffy looked at each other. "I suppose I would patrol along with the Scoobies…" Spike said eyeing Willow and Xander, "but it would certainly help if you and Dawn would patrol too."

"Really?" Dawn asked obviously overjoyed. "You'd let me patrol!"

"Well… I'll go out there for appearances sake occasionally but… you've proven that you're up to the task," Buffy said calmly. "We don't even know if I'm pregnant or even if I'm the person Spike would have the baby with… I…"

Spike gave her a stern look. "You were on board a minute ago… Watcher boy thinks that we have the potential to have this baby." He turned to Wesley, "Under what circumstances have other dhampires been born?"

Wesley raised an eyebrow then sighed, "Like with wolves, natural witches and warlocks have the most luck at producing children to vampires… I have no idea about dark magics. It seems that most commonly natural witches can tame vampires, demons, or shape shifters. It's a gift to see beyond the surface of the evil and into what else is there. Certainly we wouldn't have Dracula's children alive if not for such a woman."

"Since when does Dracula have kids?" Xander asked. "You never mentioned kids when you talked about dating him Anya!"

"That's because I didn't have them. Besides I think only the one Vampire Hunter still lives of his children. Once his wife died he had no other children."

"Dracula… Same guy that bit Buffy…'Want to suck your blood' dude from the movies has a vampire hunter as a kid…" Gunn said exasperated. "I swear I don't need to learn any new fun vampire facts today."

"Back to what I was saying… The mothers must be supernatural in some way themselves and the vampire must claim them. I knew none of this before I found a debunked watcher's journals. His slayer became pregnant with a vampire's child something he had been taught to believe was impossible like the rest of us. Only the vampire's sire seemed to know it could happen. The dhampire was killed in womb, when the sire slayed the slayer. He felt certain a child with the strengths of a slayer and vampire combined could end his species. The watcher then made a study of the mythical creature he knew could exist," Wesley stated. "Why the conception of Connor is so strange is Darla and Angel never claimed each other and vampires mating still should never be able to produce a child…"

"Chalk that up to the Powers," Buffy said. 

"So this has happened at least one time before but the slayer was killed before the baby was born…" Cordelia said thoughtfully. "Don't mean to upset you Buffy, but what if there are other vampires out there that know this prophecy? That one vamp took out a slayer over this?"

" 'The seventh of seven' is a description of my human lineage…which may mean I can't impregnate Buffy until I have my soul back…" Spike paused at the confused look on Cordelia's face. "The point is as far as I know the only person that knew I was called that in life was Angel. He loved destroy families so he researched mine…" Spike said very calmly in very polished English. 

"But what does it mean?" Willow asked.

"It's been a bloody long time since I thought about this so give me a minute to remember how it goes…. Legend says that there were seven brothers given the secrets to the earth by Queen Mab herself. Each man was given one and if they worked together they could ensure that mankind would always be provided for and survive. The secrets were of land, water, wind, fire, plants, animals and the breath of life. Well as you can tell they did not work together and the secrets were lost. My family was supposedly the seventh family: the keepers of the breath of life… **_Strange concept I know for a vampire that doesn't have to breathe._** My grandfather believed great things were ahead for me because I was the seventh son in a lineage of seven first-born sons…the seventh of the seven. I died before I found out what that truly meant. But seven slashes are marked on each side of my headstone. When I rose, my grandfather believed it was Mab that raised me for my calling…" Spike stated eyes glassy with remembrance. "I believe that if the watchers knew about the legend they would have at least written something since they write so much about everything else in my history."

"I'll look into the myth. That maybe the link to the puzzle we're missing… I do agree with Tara on the seemingly random acts that occurred in the last twenty-four hours do have an ultimate reason. I'm just not convinced the dhampire is that reason," Wesley said adjourning to his office.

"Folks don't mean to be an unhappy prom-queen but could we get on that spell you've been working on?" Cordelia asked. "I'd like to get Angel back soon."

"Not a problem," Dawn said and strolled to the witches in her life. "Did you work out the bugs in the spell?"

"Yeah…but Dawnie…" Willow started to say. 

"How do you know what to do?" Buffy asked.

Dawn considered her sister, "Remember after you died the first time, and you had a closer instinct of what you were capable of? That's what I have now. All the parts of the transformation are in place." Her friends and sister just looked at her. "That place that Wolf and I fade to the back of when our beasts are in control touches the Ether. Together Wolf and I can handle the soul but I'm the conduit to infusing it into the person… Give us the words and we'll get it done."

TBC…


	18. Confusion

Title: Confusion

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            "We'll get it done," Wolf agreed. "Just give me some advanced notice so I don't rip up anymore clothes."

            Buffy smiled softly then sighed. "I'm so confused by all of this… I don't understand what is supposed to happen now."

            Spike put an arm around Buffy and seated them on the couch. "For right now the plan is to get Angel's soul back. He will hopefully have nice fat apologizes waiting for us when he wakes up. If that goes well, we'll see about me. Would be nice for my child to have a father with a conscience." He gave her a halfhearted smile. "**_We will_** need to help the clan gain some structure since we're taking their Ulrich home to Sunnydale."

            "Great plan going but what do we do about the young dhampire we have now?" Lorn asked looking in on Connor. 

            "He said he was supposed to go back to the normal. Maybe he only has the ability to control Angel at this age rather then as baby?" Wesley remarked.

            "Well let's get this going… Really would like to get my little family back," Cordelia said sadly. 

            "We're going to have to unbind Angel to do this," Wolf said.

            "The magic of the chains will interfere," Dawn said simply. 

Wolf stripped off his sweatshirt leaving him naked from the waist up. "Hey…Hey, now. We don't need to be seeing that," Xander complained.

"Grow up," Dawn snapped. "Don't want his shirt to rip… Buffy or Cordelia give Angelus another boost of the tranquilizer before you unbind him. One of you should hold him up."

"Before anyone else offers," Wolf interrupted Spike before he said anything, "We need someone who has loved him intimately… And that isn't dead." He smirked at Spike.

"Good one boy!" Spike glared. "That leaves Buffy…"

Both Cordelia and Buffy gazed at each other. Buffy considered Dawn, "You said Cordelia could?"

"Yeah well…She would be best for several reasons…but the demon in her might get jostled again," Dawn said.

"I'll take the chance," she said calmly.

"Cordelia," Wesley called.

"I'm sorry Wesley but I have to. I know Buffy and he are over but… I just can't stand the thought of them sharing one more intimacy," Cordelia answered.

"Good Luck. Don't slip into a coma," Buffy encouraged as she retrieved another tranquilizer. 

Cordelia stood braced against the wall with Angel's dead weight against her. The witches handed the Wolf and Dawn the Latin incantation. Cordy undid the buttons on the front of Angel's shirt like Dawn instructed. She turned to Xander, "Age appropriate material… I'm taking off my shirt."

"Why?" Spike snapped.

"Skin on skin is the easiest way on both of us to pace energy between us. We could always do this naked for the best results…" Dawn commented.

Spike gritted his teeth. "Fine, but every male in this room that is not your husband is turning around now," he growled. Buffy chuckled.

Wesley, Gunn, Lorn, Xander and Spike turned away from the scene. It was like some weird tribal custom. 

Dawn chuckled herself before stripping off her shirt so she was in only her bra from the waist up. Wolf stood behind Dawn letting her whole weight lean against him. He touched he arms lightly stroking them up and down with his fingertips. "Does anyone else feel like we shouldn't be watching this?" Willow whispered to Anya and Tara. 

"It's very erotic," Anya said as Xander stood next to her facing the opposing way. 

"I don't need to hear that An," the construction work said.

"No really honey…we're going to have to have sex after this."

"Shut up Anya!" Buffy and Spike snapped.

Wolf and Dawn were in their own little world lightly touching each other back to chest. Dawn leaned into Wolf's lips and tongue as they caressed her bite. She let out a shuttered breath and he let his wings unroll. With one kiss over the shoulder, the couple rose from the floor about a foot. 

"That is just cool," Cordy muttered.

"What's cool?" Gunn asked.

"They're floating, kissing, touching…she's right, it's really erotic to watch," Cordelia answered.

"Shut up Cordy!" Buffy and Spike growled.

Wolf and Dawn's bodies came back into perfect alignment. With Dawn's head directly below Wolf's chin, she draped her arms over top of his. Their eyes snapped open glowing purple. They began to speak the words of the spell in unison until their voices became just one. The air crackled around the couple as they rose higher from the floor for a moment before hovering directly in front of Angel's body. Then their eyes turned completely white. 

Dawn placed her hand on Angel's chest where his heart should have beat, then Wolf laid his hand on top of hers. Words began to flow from their lips that weren't Latin and not in the spell. "What's happening?" Lorn asked. "They're speaking in an Angelic tongue."

Smoke began to billow off of Angel's chest from where Dawn and Wolf's hands were. "ANIMA!" they said as one and fell to the floor. 

Angel's eyes flew open and they glowed white. He gasped for breath and panted, looking at Cordelia sleepily. "Hey, beautiful," he muttered before falling asleep again. 

Buffy and Spike went to the unconscious couple to rouse them while Cordelia just cried holding Angel to herself. "Cordy," Lorn said quietly. "Someone wants you," he handed her a baby Connor. She cries harder as she laid the baby in her arms. Connor started to cry to. "No Honey… Everything's fine. Your daddy's back and you're back… Everything is just perfect." Connor cooed a bit at Cordelia before dropping his eyelids sleepily. "Just like your daddy."

Buffy retrieved both teens' shirts tossing Wolf's to Spike. She got Dawn covered quickly jostling her a little. "Dawnie…Open your eyes for me, please." The teen's eyes fluttered open and she swallowed a few times. "Need some water?" Dawn just nodded.

"Boy," Spike said shoving at Wolf's form. "Wake up… You did good…" 

Dawn purred at Wolf's prone body. Instinctively he crawled to the sound never opening his eyes. When he reached Dawn he gathered her up into his lap and let her curl into his body. Dawn rubbed her face against Wolf's neck, where his bite mark was. Wolf did the same purring as he nuzzled at her neck. They held each other in a nice little circle of arms and heads, contentedly supporting each other and being supported. 

Buffy returned with Dawn's water only to realize her sister really just needed to be with Wolf. "Guess I'll drink this," Buffy said sipping at the water. 

Spike smirked, "Let's check on the big poof."

Fred sat on the floor with Cordelia, Connor, and Angel. She was giving Angel smelling salts and checking his pupils. " Angel… Angel can you hear me?" she said to him forcefully.

Angel blinked a bit and tried to focus on whatever faces were in front of him. "Where's Connor?" he managed to mutter. 

"Here he is," Cordy said with a smile turning his face toward his son.

"He's a baby… he was a boy?" the confused vampire said.

Buffy stared down at the scene. She pointed to his chest, "You see what I do?"

Spike looked at Angel's chest to see a handprint with four fingertips and a thumb surrounding it. "Guess I'm going to have that funky scare too, huh?" he muttered.

"You don't have to," Buffy said simply. "You don't have to do this for me."

"But I need to do this for her," he whispered touching Buffy's abdomen lightly. 

Angel swallowed a few times still leaning heavily on Cordelia, "I don't understand."

"You owe Anya, Xander, Buffy, Willow, Connor, and Cordelia apologies," Spike said from above.

"Why?"

"Well you bit Anya and Cordelia," the blond vamp answered. 

"I so prefer this side of you," Xander grumbled, "but man do I want to kick your ass for biting Anya!"

Angel sat up some more and adjusted his body. Things weren't making any sense and something smelled off. He tried to focus on what was wrong in the room. "Where are my cigarettes?" Spike said in search of something to take the edge off his tension. 

A low growl emanated from Angel just before he tackled Spike. Instinctively Spike rolled throwing Angel to the side. Angel slid into gameface.

"What happened? He had his soul!" Buffy insisted. "His eyes went white and everything."

"It did work," Spike said facing off with his Sire. "ANGEL just found out about with the claim."

Angel snarled, "Mine!" Cordelia gasped, absolutely mortified and humiliated. This was what she had always feared. Buffy would always be first in Angel's mind. She sat on the floor and began to cry softly rocking the baby. 

Angel continued to snarl as Buffy approached him like he was a wild animal. She shushed him softly and got close enough to touch him. Buffy then turned Angel gently toward Cordelia holding Connor, "Yours." 

Angel's face came back into human form in shock and sorrow to see Cordy crying. "Oh god… I'm sorry," he said falling on his knees in front of her. "Please… I'm so sorry."

Cordelia wiped off her face with her hand then stood, clutching the baby that much more to herself. She considered angel for only a moment. She swallowed hard then walked past everyone including Angel on his knees. With Connor on her shoulder Cordy slipped into Angel's bedroom. 

Angel was devastated. He looked like he had been kicked in the gut. Spike went to him to give him a hand up. Angel just stayed on his knees staring out into space, "The last time I woke up I saw Buffy, and we said we loved each other, she stabbed me and I was sent to hell… What just happened feels almost as bad. What does that mean?" he said turning his eyes to Spike swallowing hard.

"It means you really do love Cordelia. Now you have to go make her believe that," Spike encouraged.


	19. Soul

Title: Confessions

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

Angel looked at the younger vampire and rose to his feet. Lorn stood outside Angel's bedroom door. "You don't want to go in there," he said simply. "I've read her… give her time."

"I can't," Angel said firmly. "If I give her time to stew, she's going to believe things that aren't true."

Angel put his hand on the doorknob only to find it locked so the he forced it. He opened the door in time to see Cordelia's dark hair swing into the bathroom. He heard the click of bathroom lock as well. Shutting the door to his bedroom he decided not to push Cordelia into a face-to-face confrontation if she didn't want one. He also didn't feel like begging in front of an audience.

Angel moved to the door-jam of the bathroom and sank down on the floor beside it. He lightly stroked the door with his fingertips. "I could try to blame this on Angelus but I know you won't believe that… I could say it was instinct on a base level…but that won't make this better either." He kicked the doorframe. 

Cordelia sat on the toilet lid holding the baby listening to Angel through the door. It was a safe distance. She didn't have to see him. He could just grovel on the other side, away from her. When Cordy heard him kick the doorframe she knew he was upset. She was about to tell him off when he continued. 

"Cordy…I love you… I don't know if you'll ever believe that after what just happened, but…" Angel racked his hand through his hair. "It's so stupid… but that had nothing to do with Buffy. That was Alpha male crap. For Spike to have claimed a woman that had been my lover and I had bitten, it was a blow to my authority as his Sire… It has nothing to do with love or romance, just ego and dominance. I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" He stared at the door. "Please let me know you're at least listening."

"I hear you," she muttered softly looking at Connor lovingly. 

Angel laid his hand against the wood of the door. "I was sure that this time I wasn't coming back. I was never going to get to know Connor. I wasn't ever gonna know what it would be like to have you really love me… I feels like I've been gone so long," he started blinking sleepily. "What did you guys give me? I'm just barely awake trying to have the most important conversation of my life," he muttered, leaning his head against the door.

Cordelia opened the door to the bathroom, causing the very drugged vampire to nearly fall on his face. She chuckled then sobered. "So it's not that deep down you wish you had claimed Buffy yourself?" she asked with cautious eyes trained on Angel.

He blinked very slowly for a moment. "You were the first thing I saw… and that was how it should have been. If Buffy had been holding me, I would have been so confused." Angel was fighting the drugs with everything that he had, the demon and adrenaline having faded. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry if you feel humiliated…I never meant… As soon as I saw you holding Conner all the crap that was going on in my head about being dominate got pushed down…"

Angel knew he was up for confession so he pushed on, "I envy Spike…not for being with Buffy but for the way he flows with his demon. The fact it's just an echo of him that still manages to let his humanity shines through even without a soul. I'm never comfortable in my own skin or with my demon because I know what he's capable of without my soul to reign him in… Spike just getting to be married and love passionately…I can't do that and it kills me."

Cordelia looked at him and kissed his cheek. "You don't know yet," she said with a smile. She laid the little sleeping baby in his bassinet. Cordelia stood and extended a hand to Angel. He let her pull him up and over to the bed. 

She sat him down and then laid him back against the comfortable bed. Cordelia slid up next to him. "What are you doing?" he asked raggedly as she peppered his neck with kisses. 

"I'm making love to you very slowly and maybe not even all at once," she whispered as she laid her body atop of Angel's.

Cordy nipped at his ear causing a sleepy appendage to jump to attention. "Cordelia…we can't…you know that," he gasped as she did wonderful things to his ear and he ran his hands over her back and shoulders kissing her neck as he went. 

"Actually," she said kissing his lips softly then more deeply, "we can."

Angel hardened very quickly. "Cordy," he said between kisses, "don't tease me. I can't take it." Feeling her body writhe against his only served to make him grabbier. 

"They didn't curse you Angel…No happiness clause," she punctuated by nipping more forcefully at his neck. When he groaned she knew she had him. Cordelia looked down into his face. "You have a sleeping beauty clause… You kiss Spike; you fall asleep… Only my kiss can wake you up."

Angel started to laugh, "Kiss Spike?" 

"We picked something amazingly unlikely to happen," she smiled down at him. 

"So we really could…" he whispered brushing her hair away from her neck. 

"We could finish what we started last night," Cordy said with a kiss.

"Or for me months ago," Angel said sadly. 

Cordelia rubbed her nose to his, "With one major exception… I know I love you. Seeing your body and it not be you, hit me hard. You might never come back and I never would have told you I loved you. I woke up crying at the thought… I love you."

Angel leaned up and captured her lips. "I love you too," he said as their lips parted. "I'm not in love with your sweetness or goodness or light. I'm in love with you as a person not as a concept."

"Guess you did some thinking in the Ether, huh?" she whispered.

"That's all I could do… but its not like you're really conscious there. I just knew somehow," he answered as quietly. They stared at each other for a moment longer. "Maybe we should go back out there, before they decide we need to be checked on?"

Cordy nodded, leaning off of Angel's chest, who sat up as well. "I guess we'll have to go to the sound proof roof on this floor. You haven't had sex in four years… Wait I guess that's not true," she said with a frown.

Her brought her face around to look at him. "I've messed up a lot…and I've done awful things. If anyone should be worried it's me. I'm the one that's tainted."

"Angel," she sighed sympathetically. 

"No… It has been four years…" Angel said and then felt guilty. He would have to tell her about the day that never was, "I think I need to tell you something that no one else knows…so this will be between us." Cordelia nodded. "You remember that day Buffy came to visit not long after we both moved here?" Cordy considered him for a second. 

Angel stood up and began to pace. "There was that demon in my office that I killed by hitting the crystal in its head… Okay the deal is that demons blood has regenerative powers." He swallowed. "That day happened twice. The first time I didn't know how to kill it and I only injured it. Our blood mixed and it regenerated me…I was human. Buffy was here and we…celebrated," he said slowly. Cordelia just looked at him with big eyes. "Nothing happened…No Angelus or anything but I knew I'd want to protect Buffy and as a human I couldn't so I went to the oracles and asked them to turn back time so Buffy wouldn't remember and I could continue on my mission… She doesn't know…but I do." 

Cordelia looked him over a bit, "Why do I know?"

"I didn't want to lie and say it was four years since I had made love to a woman I loved… That experience hurt like hell, tore me up inside, but it also showed me completely we weren't supposed to be together… I want you to know that," he said with confidence.

Cordy got to her feet and stood in front of Angel, "You could have told me." He just looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "It's okay… We're okay… Just hold me close for a little while before we head out to the firing squad."

Angel smirked then enveloped Cordelia into his arms. He stroked her hair from behind and breathed in her scent. "I feel like I've wanted to be holding you like this for years."

Cordy smirked, "Might have been. Before we got Spike reanimated he was in the Nothing for months. You were out a lot longer."

"You want to fill me in on what I missed?" 

She just laughed, "No…I'm so going to let Spike do the honors. But man if you respond badly again, you're not getting any tonight."

"What could possibly have happened that I would react like that too? He can't get her pregnant," Angel scoffed. Cordy raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You fathered Connor," she said simply.

"Yeah but that was a prophecy," he replied. She just smirked at him. "You're telling me there is a prophecy that Spike will get Buffy pregnant?"

"No…"

"Good…"

"I'm telling you there is a prophecy that 'the seventh of seven' aka Spike will father a dhampire slayer," Cordelia replied.

Angel just blinked rapidly, "It's got to be the drugs because I swear you just said Spike's going to be the daddy of a slayer."

"I did."

"Bloody Hell!" the words spilled out of Angel's mouth much to his shock.

Cordelia cracked up. "Can't swear on your own, there killer?"

"Hey…Ego still bruised," the souled one confessed. 

"We'll have Wesley explain the intricacies of this to all of us. Besides I'm sure Buffy and Spike are just waiting for us to return so it can be a big family pow-wow when Spike gets the soul of William back," Cordy answered. 

"Oh yeah… Spike will really want me there," Angel scoffed.

She looked at him softly, "Who better to be there for him then you and Buffy? Lets get going. I want see Wolf and Dawn fly again."

TBC…


	20. William

Title: William

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Wolf and Dawn were still circled into one another on the floor licking each other's neck. "Should we even ask?" Buffy said looking at Spike.

            "I don't know pet… Would it be wrong for me not to want to do this with the audience? It's not like I can turn into anything worse then I already am," Spike responded. 

            "You're scared," she whispered to him.

            "Bloody right I am… What if I'm a git? What if you don't like my soul? What if I can't fight anymore?" 

            "Why would you think you couldn't fight?" Buffy asked.

            "Buffy, I was worse then a watcher on the Nancy boy scale. I wouldn't be surprised if my soul revolts against me and tries to kill us both," Spike groaned holding her hand. 

            "Spike…you're worrying for nothing. From what you told me the demon freed you to become what you wanted to be- wild and unstrained. I'm not sure what you're going to be like after this but you are the one I'm supposed to be with so take stock in the fact I'm not going anywhere."

            Spike nodded and hugged her. "If I start writing you poetry forgive me…I'm awful at it. I wonder if my accent will change?" 

Buffy smiled. Angel and Cordelia exited the bedroom. Buffy took Spike by the hand and led them to the other couple. "Everything straight?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Cordy nodded.

"Can we use your room for the restoration spell? No need for an audience," the slayer said simply.

"I had to have an audience," Angel countered.

"Yes but you also had to be chained to a wall," Buffy chided.

"Alright," he answered. "Would…" Angel worked his jaw. "Would you like us to stay to help you cope?" he said to the younger vampire not looking at him. 

Spike considered Angel's manner for a moment. "I know a lot has gone down Peaches but there is no need for that," he said addressing the lack of eye contact. "You and I both know you can kill me… No face has been lost." Angel looked Spike in the eye. "And yeah as uncomfortable as it maybe for me I think William would appreciate it."

"Stop that," Buffy said. "Stop talking about yourself in two persons. Just because Angel changes personality when his soul is in place doesn't mean you will. Your soul is just one part of you remember?" Spike nodded. "Okay then. I'll see if Dawn and Wolf are up for round two." 

The youngest couple stayed cuddled on the floor. Dawn rocked her head back and forth. "We're going to change," she warned. "It'll just be a couple minutes… We need someplace to be confined."

Spike picked Wolf up and Buffy got Dawn and carried them into a first floor bedroom. Both kids were out of it but were beginning to de-robe "What are they doing?" Spike asked quickly. 

"Undress or ripped clothing…you decide?" Buffy announced.

"Right," Spike said as they shut the door. 

Wolf crawled to Dawn stripping away her clothing in a half dazed state. Dawn fumbled with Wolf's clothes as well until they finally started to breath heavy. "We have to get you out of these…" he growled. 

Faster and faster their hands moved until they were naked scratching and biting at each other. Wolf's muscles began to contort as his body structured changed. Dawn looked on panting as slowly the same thing happened to her. 

Once both were in wolf form they stretched leisurely. Wolf bent and nuzzled at Dawn's fur covered neck as she rocked back on her hind legs. They started to lick one another in a gentle manner when their bodies reverted back to human form. 

"Am I ever going to get used to that?" Dawn asked snuggling into Wolf's chest on the floor. 

"I've never shifted so often before so I haven't a clue," he said kissing Dawn's neck. He gazed down at her naked body and became painfully aroused. One of his hands moved of its own volition to one of Dawn's breasts. She yelped at the contact, which Wolf swallowed in a kiss. "We could stay for a while," he said trailing a hand over her stomach and to her hip.

Dawn breathed unsteadily. "I told them it would only be a few minutes," she said huskily. 

"They don't have to know we've already switched back…" Wolf said nibbling on Dawn's earlobe. He picked up his wife kissing her lips and carried her to the bed. "We could just play."

"What constitutes playing?" she asked in a deep whisper. 

He began to touch her body intimately. Dawn tried to breath but failed utterly. "Spike will smell it on us," she groaned as Wolf sucked at her breast. 

He brought his head up. "Good point." He lifted her off the bed again and carried her to the shower. 

"What are we doing?" Dawn asked.

"Playing and making sure we don't smell of sex," he said with a smirk. She smirked back, reached out and started the shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They must have shifted back… the showers on," Buffy observed.

Spike rubbed his neck then his eyes. "Well I guess we'll be waiting a while."

"Why do you say that?" Cordy asked.

"Two teenagers… naked… in the same room…who are now married… Need I say more?" Spike said wearily. 

"But the shower? Aren't they a little inexperienced for the shower?" Cordelia asked.

Spike sighed, "Nibblet hears us in the shower every morning… As far as modeling behavior goes, she is probably more likely to have sex in the bathroom over any other room in the house."

"That and it will wipe the smell off," Buffy interjected. "Wolf's a smart enough boy to know you would be a little annoyed to smell sex on them both."

Spike rubbed his eyes, "We're redoing the basement at home so they can live down there…I will not be able to handle trying to divide time to use the shower between us. We'll give them their own shower and tub…"

"We don't have the money for that and you know it," Buffy countered.

"The whelp can help us… but we have to do something. Her bedroom is next door… Hearing other people never bothered me until Nibblet… No I take that back. I hated hearing Dru and the Poof but that was for obvious reasons," Spike groaned.

Cordelia looked at Angel who laughed nervously for a second. "The whole dominance thing again…" Cordy continued to glare. "It was Angelus…not me…when I was me I never laid a hand on her…Right Spike?" Spike didn't respond. "Right?" he said slapping Spike's head.

"Oww… Yeah that's right…unless you banged her while she was in town like you did Darla," Spike swatted at Angel's hand. 

"Not helping boy!" Angel said as Cordelia gave him the look of death.

"Oh stop worrying prom queen… He only has eyes for you, alright?" Spike grumbled.

"Yeah…" she said continuing to glare. 

"What?" Angel asked nervously. 

"You're really good with the obsession thing," Cordy said with an unreadable expression. "I mean that's how Dru got vamped to begin with."

"Angelus… not me," Angel countered.

"YOU were pretty obsessed with Buffy, before you even met her right? Then this last year with Darla…that was you, not Angelus," she said clearly. Angel just looked at her with pleading eyes. "I'll be back in a minute." Cordelia left the room. 

"I'll go check on her," Buffy said following her out. 

"OWW!" Spike yelled after Angel hit him in the head with a book next to the chair he was in. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Just had to bring up Dru," he growled.

"Oh quit your grousing," Spike muttered. "You did it…not me." Both men sat scowling at the other.

"Cordelia," Buffy called catching her right outside the door. "What's going on?" she asked very confused. "You knew what he was like…what he had done. Why does it bother you to find out about Dru and him…it wasn't even Angel."

"Buffy," Cordy began. "You're the one he watched from afar and fell in love with without even knowing you. You're the one he lost his soul to because you gave him complete happiness. I'm never going to know if I could have had that affect on him… Not that I want the whole Angelus thing…its just… I guess it just brought it home that in the last few years all the women he's obsessed over he's bedded. Even this go round Angelus was all about coming after you, biting you, and raping you. As sick as it may sound his demon is in touch with where his heart is. Angel may love me on some level but not like he loved you. He's obsessed about all the rest of you in his vamp state but not me."

Buffy shook her head. "That is sick Cordelia… It should make you happy that his demon can't twist what you have with him. It should make you happy that it doesn't latch onto whatever darkness there is inside you… The fact that only Angel loves you is a good thing. Besides I know him well enough to know he made one mistake with Darla and it killed him inside. There weren't others." Cordelia sighed. "Let's go back in there and you can talk to Angel in soft non-judgmental tones with a serious lack of glares." Cordy nodded.

The bedroom door opened revealing the two glaring vampires. Each rose at the sight of the woman each loved. Buffy snagged Spike's arm and said, "We're going to watch Connor sleep," with that the bathroom door shut.

Angel looked at Cordy with big pleading eyes for a crumb of hope. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I let stuff get to me that I shouldn't have."

In almost no voice he asked, "Can I hold you?" She nodded and soon enjoyed the feeling of Angel's arms round her. He kissed her forehead. "Do you want to talk about this now or is this a later date conversation?"

Cordy swallowed, "I let some stupid insecurity twist some stuff in my head."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact you still went for Buffy when you were Angelus and you've not obsessed about me the way you did with Darla, Dru and Buffy." Angel stared at her. "Like I said stupid."

"And Buffy made it better?" Angel asked still nervous.

"She pointed out how cool it was that your demon hasn't twisted what we have."

Angel sighed deeply. "I love you… I'm sorry about this afternoon. I imagine it's going to stick with us for a while."

"Probably."

A short knock came on the door. Dawn stood in front of Angel when he opened it. "Are Buffy and Spike ready for the restoration spell?"

"I think so…" Cordy said, "They're in the bathroom… Come on in. We're doing it in here."

"I'm not sure the ceiling is high enough," Wolf said with an arm draped over Dawn's shoulder. 

"Don't float so high," Spike said as he entered the room. Wolf and Spike stared at each other for a minute until Wolf cast his eyes down. "So you know we're going to have to figure out some arrangement in the house. I was thinking about the basement."

Dawn wrinkled her brow. "What?"

"Your husband understands me," Spike said curtly. "Now lets get a soul in me and maybe I'll be in a better mood."

"Oookkaayy," Dawn drew out. "Are they staying?" she pointed at Cordelia and Angel. Buffy nodded. "I really love you Spike…because I so would not take off my shirt in front of Angel for any other reason."

"Peaches isn't going to be looking at you pet…not if he knows what's good for him," Spike replied. 

Angel chuckled but turned his back, as the scene was set again. Buffy stood with Spike in front of her helping him remove his shirt. "Wow…" Cordelia muttered. "Didn't know you hid a chiseled chest under there."

"Hey!" Angel fumed. "I don't need to hear you checking out another guy while I'm in the room."

Cordy pushed a chair to him. "Sit and I'll watch the fun."

"Oh no you won't…" he said snagging her into his lap. "We're here for moral support afterward not ogling beforehand." 

Buffy and Spike laughed as they watched the couple cuddle. Dawn and Wolf had both removed their shirts and were touching each other slowly. "Hey…Hey… Father figure not wanting to see things I don't want to admit you're doing," Spike objected.

"They can't hear you," Buffy said softly. "That is how they create the energy they need to open the Ether. Nothing graphic happens..." Just as she said the words Wolf's right hand cupped Dawn's left breast, "Normally." The air began to crackle and spark a great deal louder then before due to the enclosed space. The couple took flight for a few seconds touching slightly more sexually then before. When they kissed actual lights began to spark in the room. 

Dawn's body aligned with Wolf's and they hovered in front of Spike's exposed chest. "I really wish I were unconscious for this," Spike muttered. 

"It's okay baby…I'm right here," Buffy reassured as the younger couple joined voices as one reciting the words to the spell. Their words slid out of Latin and into the Angelic language they spoke earlier. Wolf and Dawn's eyes glowed white as Spike's skin began to smoke.

"Bloody hell that hurts," Spike groaned. 

"Almost done," Buffy assured.

A few more words were spoken then "Anima!" was shouted before puddling the couple on the floor. 

Spike's eyes filled with white light then shut, as he became dead weight. "A little help here," Buffy called to Angel and Cordelia who immediately attended the teens. 

Buffy sank both her body and Spike's to the ground. Spike began to rouse slightly blinking slowly. "Spike?" she whispered holding him closely. "I love you… Look at me, Spike."

He turned his head slowly. He blinked rapidly as the images of his life came back to him…and images of Buffy. Spike quickly pushed her away. She reluctantly let him out of her grasp. "Spike?"

"Stop…" he said. "Make it stop… Don't call me that… Stop saying those things… I'm not a monster… I'm not beneath you…" he growled. His eyes leveled with Buffy staring at her with absolute hate and animosity. "Just a modern version of Cecily."

TBC…

A/N: Sorry guys. In-laws are in town. Won't be updating before Monday.


	21. Help

Title: Help

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Spike sat curled into a corner staring hatefully out at the room. Periodically he would clutch his head as if in pain. Cordelia tended to Wolf and Dawn while Buffy just stared at Spike who had expressed absolute distain for her. 

Angel moved close to his young childe. "William?" he asked. Spike's head came up meeting his eyes. "What do you remember?"

Spike squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "It hurts… It hurts… So much pain… So much hate and death… You!" Spike lunged at Angel sending them both rolling across the floor. "You did this… You hurt her… You tortured and raped and killed…" he yelled slamming Angel's head into the floor not attempting to stop him.

"Not about me William… What do you remember about you?" Angel said smoothly.

"You made me this way," Spike screamed at Angel pounding him. "You taught me to do those things… I hate you! How could you do that? How could you make me do that?" Spike wailed loudly and tears descended his face, "She made me because you were done with her… You used her and drove her mad and made her a killer… I was made to be a doll for her collection, something to love. Then I was there to protect her from you… You took everything from her!"

"William… What about what you did? Not to Dru…to the others. What about the others?" Angel said again as Buffy and Cordelia looked on horrified. 

Spike thought for a second or two and grabbed his head again. "Make it stop…Please make it stop," he muttered like a mantra.

"Get a trash can Buffy," Angel instructed. She handed it over. "William, sit up."

He did what he was told. "It hurts…"

"You feel sick?" The only answer Angel got was Spike heaving blood into the trashcan. "Get a blanket," Angel ordered Buffy who promptly realized this was Angel's game not hers. 

Angel rapped the younger vampire in the blanket and drew him back against his chest. "I'm sorry William… I'm sorry… It's going to hurt for a while. You can beat on me anytime you need to."

Spike leaned forward into the trashcan again and threw up more blood. 

"He's rejecting the claim," Buffy said quietly not looking up. Angel just looked at her silently. "You didn't do this, did you?" 

He shook his head. "But I hadn't fed right before the restoration either."

"It's the claim… He's rejecting me."

"Of course I'm rejecting you!" William shouted. "Why in the name of all that is Holy would I want to be with you? You, my dear girl, are beneath me!" he said with venom. 

"Angel why is he so angry at me? Why didn't he come back like you did?" Buffy cried.

"Because I had worked out all this junk a hundred years ago. He's still pissed that he got turned," Angel answered. "The claim is specific vampire tradition."

William looked at her incredulously, "Why would I want to be with a person that forced me to do something that archaic to them? Why would I want to be with someone who wanted me to rape and bleed her? And it was against the monster's will even. What sort of a woman are you?"

Buffy dissolved into a crying fit. "Where is Spike? Where did he go? Why isn't he here to love me and let me sooth him?"

"Because child, I'm not letting that monster run my life," William responded.

"He's not a monster. He was my husband and the father of my child. He was loving and devoted. He would die to protect us… What are you? A brassed off soul that can't stand the thought that the demon inside you had more of a life then you did… That monster that you're rejecting is loved out here in the real world. I'm sorry everyone you love is dead but we love him! When you decide to stop fighting him and let him be part, let me know!" Buffy shouted at the body of the man that used to be the love of her life.

William remained quiet for a while as his nausea subsided. Images began to come in droves again, but this time it was of the tower, Dawn doing her homework, Tara facing off with her family, Giles giving him a hug. The life he had been living the last few years became fresh as Spike tried to push to the surface. William squeezed his eyes shut… "Why can't I just make him go away?"

"Because he loves me," Buffy said matter-of-factly, "and you can't keep him from me. You can't control him the way you want to."

Dawn had roused enough to watch what was happening. "He loves me and he would never leave me," she said quietly. "He's not a bad guy…Just give him a chance."

"This is bloody ridiculous," William swore. "I don't swear!"

"Yeah…but Spike does," Dawn smirked. "He's taken you all over the world and seen great parts of history… He's also never thrown away your mother's letters or stopped reading poetry. He's accepted the fact he's not very good at writing it… He kept vestiges of you in his world. Don't push him out of ours."

The teenager seemed so sincere that his heart hurt. She was so innocent and loving. And yet she loved this thing inside him. She loved him…the demon…the killer. William closed his eyes again and just focused on the memories he had of Dawn. He saw them playing cards, sitting in his crypt telling her stories, attempting to save her life on the tower, caring for her after Buffy had died. Then he saw Buffy on the stairs as they both prepared to die for Dawn, then her dead on the ground, her buried, and himself weeping at her grave. He remembered Spike's 'you treat me like a man' speech. He saw Buffy descend her staircase after clawing her way out of her grave and he how held her hands. He felt the love this part of him had for each of these women. Then he remembered Joyce, her mini marshmallows, and her grave as well. William wept. That part of him they called Spike loved all of these women with every ounce of his being. 

William fell into what can only be called a trance. He stood in a black room with no doors and he saw nothing. "Go ahead and look Wanker… You won't see anything," Spike's less polished accent came from the darkness. 

"Where are you?" William responded.

"In the shadows… You can't keep me from my girls… I'm asked you back into me, not the other way round, mate. Trust me, I'll kiss Angel to get rid of you if you keep treating my girl like trash," Spike growled.

"What do you want from me?" William asked looking around trying to pin down the voice. 

"Simple…Work with me here. I need to have a conscience for my baby girl's sake… I want to be the best I can be for my little Hope," Spike responded coming close to William. 

"Hope?" the soul asked. "Hope is our baby's name?"

"Yes… She is destined to be born to us…but you've slightly botched the claiming ritual by throwing up all of Buffy's blood."

William made a face, "How can she let you do that to her?"

"She loves me," Spike came even closer. 

"I feel you… How can I feel you?"

"You're beginning to accept me… It will take some time but you'll get used to me… Like Nibblet said…I'm really not that bad a guy anymore."

"Do you really still have mother's letters?" William asked timidly. 

"Think about it… You know I do… Will, I'll give you all the tenacity you were afraid to show in life. Just let me in," Spike spoke smoothly. 

Suddenly William felt like he was gasping for air. It was like he were a glove being stretched to fit a hand.

Spike's eyes opened and blinked a few times coughing up a little more blood. "I think we're going to have to do the claiming ritual again, luv," he said weakly.

"Spike?" Buffy whispered from where she was standing on the other side of the room.

"It's me, pet… Just had to work some things out with me better half," he sighed deeply. "I feel wrung out like some old linens."

"Okay, that wasn't one of your isms," Dawn said simply from the floor where Wolf was protectively holding her. Angel was having the cuts on the back of his head from being smashed into the ground attended to by Cordelia. 

"Yeah well… I figure I'll lose some of my swearing and general raunchiness. Better for the baby…" Spike sighed deeply with his eyes shut. Buffy came along side him and hugged him gently. "Sorry for what he said, luv… I know it hurt. I know it'll take a while for you to forgive me for it."

"It wasn't you."

"It was part of me… This go round I can make the ritual special and sweet," he whispered in her ear kissing her cheek. 

Spike began to chuckle. 

"What's funny?" Buffy asked.

"William… All his Victorian man stuff… I know its still in me but its amplified now… I love you. I want to spend eternity with you. And you're having my child. When Father Gabriel gets back we're getting married," Spike announced with a laugh.

"Aren't you supposed to ask on bended knee or something?" Buffy looked at him incredulously.

"Buffy Anne Summers I've already purposed to you. You said yes. It may have been a spell but it did set the rest in motion… But if you insist… Buffy Anne Summers will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man alive by marrying me?" Spike smirked.

"Not if you don't take this seriously," she snapped.

"Oh I'm taking this very seriously pet. William, my beloved conscience, won't let me touch you until I marry you. Believe me I'm taking this seriously!"

Buffy drew her brow together in mock annoyance. "So its all about sex…"

"Dear god woman… You should hear the lecture I'm getting about how I need to make a respectable woman of you…The fact that he has enough control over me that I'm not having lusty Buffy thoughts is a miracle. As for this being just about sex I say ha. I was talking to you about marriage before we knew any of this stuff was in the works," Spike responded.

"You did?" Dawn asked in unison with Angel.

"Yes I did… I even offered to take the last name Summers, which William will have none of. His last name was good enough for his mother and his father's mother so it will be good enough for Buffy… This is kind of fun…It's like having a little person in your head to talk you into and out of stuff."

"That is generally what a conscience does," Dawn informed him. 

"No but its wild…it's like thoughts I would have had years ago, but now are just there. I mean it was a big deal for me to offer to be a Summers because of how I grew up…not that you appreciated luv with your 'I'm just going to die anyways' routine. Now its like have I gone mad for even offering?"

"So William…" Cordelia addressed Spike, "Will you be okay with Buffy patrolling while she's pregnant?"

Spike smirked, "He's Victorian not stupid!" Cordelia pouted. "Wolf and Dawn will be patrolling…that was already decided."

"Man… Can't bait the soul!"

Spike laughed heartily. "I forgot how much fun I could be if I had a little freedom." Buffy looked at him. "Cordelia… He asked what sort of woman would get pleasure out of trying to corrupt a soul?" Buffy laughed. 

Angel chuckled. Cordelia didn't like where the scene was going so she pressed hard on one of Angel's cuts, "Oww!"

"Oh…Sorry," Cordy mocked. Angel rolled his eyes.

"So you're you… I'd be marrying you?" Buffy asked concerned.

Spike pulled her into his lap. He put one hand on her abdomen and one hand in her hair with his arm resting on her back, "Yes luv… You'll be marrying me. Me with a new part, remember?"

"I remember," she said laying a hand on top of her stomach and kissed Spike soundly. Buffy smiled when she felt Spike harden. She leaned over and sucked on his ear, "Can't control all the lusty Buffy thoughts, huh?"

Spike's mischievous gleam met hers. "Not when lusty Buffy is in my lap rubbing herself against me in such wonderful ways," he said in a husky whisper. 

"Okay… Enough watching the serious foreplay," Cordelia said as she turned to check on the baby who had slept through the entire fight. "This kid is amazing."

"Sorry about the head mate," Spike said pointing to Angel.

"Hey… You have an attack of conscience and want to blame a mentor again…find Druscilla. If I were human, I would be dead," Angel responded.

"Yeah well… I'm sure you'll teach me how to handle those 'crisis of conscience' moments, hopefully with less brooding. I don't want to raise Hope with a complex," Spike said holding Buffy's hand as they stood. 

"Nibblet?" Dawn raised her eyes sleepily. Spike pulled her to her feet. "Thank you for being my angel… I couldn't have convinced William I was worth anything without your love."

She smiled at him, "Only my father and brother in one." Dawn reached a hand to Wolf. "We're resting for the remainder of the day. If anyone needs us we'll be recouping in our room."

"And if the showers running on or there is rhythmic thumping we'll be sure to leave you be," Buffy teased.

"I'm too tired to be embarrassed," Dawn responded and led her husband out of the room and up the stairs. 

"So when can we do that?" Buffy said biting Spike's ear. 

"The things you do to me," Spike husked back at her. 

"We don't know when Father Gabriel is going to get back," Buffy pouted.

Willow knocked on the door. "Hi guys… Father Gabriel is back. He said something about the claim being broken?"

Spike smirked at her, "Something tells me our dear Father knows more then he's letting on."

"Lets go find out how," Buffy replied.

TBC…


	22. Father forgive them

Title: Father forgive them

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            The couple strode out to the lobby to see Father Gabriel standing before them with a smile. "That was fast Father… The elders gave their verdict already?" Spike said smoothly. William whispered in Spike's head, 'He's a priest…Give him the benefit of the doubt.' Spike replied, 'Yeah…there are a lot of sexually abused kids in this world that would disagree.'

            "I did not make it to the meeting. Something was off here… I thought you could use my services," the Father eyed him.

            "Father…Where are you from?" Spike asked simply.

            "Romania… Why?"

            "How would you know something was off here? You mentioned to Willow the claim. You shouldn't know that if you're a wolf?" Spike said in a low voice. "Only another vampire should be able to 'feel' a claim."

            The Father had dead eyes for a moment knowing he had given himself away rather stupidly. He was not playing with a group of amateurs. He chose to remain silent.

"I think," Spike continued, "you're from the 'old country' if you will. I think you are more interested in our small dhampire then our Ulrich." The vampire sniffed a bit, "I think you are one of those few… one of the original dhampires that were wolf and vampire mixed. You were the ones that taught shape shifting to the likes of Dracula. I smelled the other wolf but I didn't pick up on you… How careless of me?" he practically snarled in that intense low whisper. "How close am I?" he glared.

            "Close enough," the thick accent became thicker. His descended teeth shown as he spoke. 

            "You know you cannot have the boy and you cannot have the baby so what are you here for?" Spike growled drawing Cordelia and Angel's sensitive ears.

            "Your Hope," Gabriel growled back. "She is meant to be… I will insure the claim stays in place. I can appease your soul," he mocked.

            "What man of God or devil are you Gabriel?" 

            "Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose… The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown."

"What kind of answer is that?" Buffy asked.

            Gabriel turned to her, "You know of dhampires and shape-shifter and demons…but you know very little of your lineage as a slayer. You are creating something that when it is born it will be the first of its kind… unique, special. And with training, not of the Council's variety, far more…effective…then you can imagine."

            "You want to provide said training?" Spike scoffed.

            "I want to survive…I want my kind to survive. She will kill anything in her path that is not pure blooded once the Council gets her…and they will. They can make up for all their failures with Buffy with the child she bares," Gabriel spoke solemnly.

            "You know this how?" Buffy countered.

            "You think this is a secret… You honestly believe that this is a singular prophecy. When your slayer died and rose the first time she attracted attention from our world. And when she slept with the vampire," he pointed to Angel, "the demon world shook. Not for what he became but for fear of what they would create… That, dear slayer, is the real reason no one stopped your tryst…and have not stopped you this time. You are destined to bare a child by a vampire lover and your dear Council knows it." 

The sardonic smile crept across his mouth, "In every generation there is a chosen one… and in every generation a vampire that is more human then vampire is pushed toward the slayer to fulfill the prophecy. With every slayer that dies in battle and does not rise they have to begin again. You were everything they hoped for."

Spike considered him, "So the sire that killed the other slayer that was pregnant had reason to fear only if she came back somehow… So the Council keeps the pregnancy thing under wraps from both the slayer and the vampire they send so they won't worry about taking precautions…and now they've done it… Why did you tell us to tell the Council?"

            "Honestly?" Father Gabriel asked. Spike nodded. "I figured when the Council made an attempt to take the child you would be more likely to let me to train her… If we can get her to use the gifts she has from the shadows of her nature at an early age she won't be so likely to slaughter countless dhampires, shape-shifters and demons that are not violent."

            "You thought this all through before you entered the door… Was Phillip just a prop?" Buffy said with bile in her throat.

            "No…I really didn't know he had betrayed the clan. Though it did help things along in your trust of me."

            "Why be so forthcoming now?" Angel asked joining the group.

            "You know what I say is true…It is laced in the tales of the slayers of old. I still want the child alive and safe. I just want her to be more discriminating then the Council… and I will not steal her," Gabriel responded.

            "How do we know that?" Spike stared the man down.

            "Taking the child would mean death in all parts of the world. In Romania she would be the safest since the dhampire population is still revered, but I would not make it there before we both would be killed." He smiled darkly, "Do not fool yourselves…The dark will come for the child to kill it, but those the child could protect in our world would stand with you… Your Xex was created to insure her birth. I'm here to insure her mind is not raped by the Council."

"You want to teach her to shift," Spike observed.

            "Yes…and the bite and to enthrall. With those skills she should be safe for centuries."

            "Spike can't do those things and she is his child. Why could she?" Angel remarked.

            Gabriel considered him a moment, "You lied to them vampire…" He sighed when Spike's face-hardened. "You may not wish your love to know but it is time to tell… You are more talented then you sire or lover knows."

            Buffy looked at him carefully. William picked at Spike's conscience, 'Tell her or I will!' Spike gritted his teeth. "Somehow the 'seventh of seven' stuff does boost my abilities."

            "Which abilities?" Angel ground out.

            "The bite and the thrall," Spike looked down.

            "What do you mean by the bite?" Buffy asked. He looked at her hard then deeper in her eyes. "Oh… Ooohhh… Okay I guess I knew that…I just didn't know that's what that was."

            "I don't need to hear this," Angel snarled as he got angrier. "I never saw you use the thrall on anyone."

            "You liked to torture and maim. I liked to fight. I got off on it, still do… I wouldn't if I just got into my enemies' minds… Dru knew I could. She taught me to harness it while you weren't looking or were gone," Spike answered. 

            Gabriel began again, "As for the shifting that just requires practice and concentration, something our dear slayer has instilled in her. The child will be born disciplined… Besides it is easier to teach a child then an adult."

Spike looked at Buffy and she looked back. "Check his story with Wesley," Angel stated gruffly. "I'll go interrupt Dawn and Wolf so this wedding / claiming can get underway."

            They watched him head to the stairs. "Thanks Angel," Buffy said with a confused look. "What was that about?"

            "He can't do the bite thing," Spike said simply. 

            "You don't know that," Buffy answered.

            "Yeah I do pet…" he said open-endedly.

            "Still not an image I'm comfortable with," she responded.

            Father Gabriel was left standing as the couple crossed to Wesley. "In those debunked watcher journals does it mention a prophecy aimed specifically at the slayer?" Spike asked.

            "I have a few more books to attend to," he answered.

            "Willow…Xander…Guys…" Buffy yelled.

            "What's up Buffster?" Xander asked.

            "Everybody get a watcher journal…look for anything on a slayer prophecy. You find one bring it over," Spike instructed.

            "No specifics being given at this time?" Wesley asked.

            "Not yet… Have to find it first, then we'll compare notes," Spike stated firmly glaring at the priest. 

            "We're awake and dressed and weren't having sex so whatever needs to happen let it happen now so I can go back to sleep," Dawn gripped coming down the stairs.

            Angel was practically dragging Wolf by the nape of the neck like a cub. "Growls and shows teeth when woken up to fast," the vampire explained.

            "You didn't tell them why you were waking them up?" Buffy asked.

            Angel sort of tossed Wolf a bit toward Buffy, "That's your job!"

            Buffy walked up to the annoyed vampire and took him aside. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

            "He tried to bite me…I don't like that," Angel responded.

            "No…I mean you're just being hostile."

            Angel ground his teeth; "I don't want to think that Whistler, who was supposedly sent by the Powers that Be, was actually sent by the Council, to bring me to you to get you pregnant… Just not the best thought especially since he still shows up occasionally."

            "No reason to get rough with Wolf…but I understand better. Look I think Whistler brought you to see me but I don't think he knew anything would happen with us…" Buffy said. "At least that's what he told me."

            "Right… _Us_ was just a coincidence," Angel replied sarcastically.

            "Maybe… It's more likely the Council had some influence over the Initiative in getting Spike chipped," Buffy contended. "_He is the one_ I was supposed to be with!" she said folding her arms.

            "Are you just trying to be cruel or has this whole situation turned you into a bitch, cause I really have no desire to hear how much of a mistake I was again? If you want to play it that way believe me I can make this conversation painful for you too!" he stared angrily into her eyes. 

Spike walked up to the angry ex's and pulled Buffy away. "Go research," he said in a deep commanding tone. She walked away completely pissed but willing to not have the situation explode. Spike turned to Angel, "Punching bag or do you need a semi live body to bang on?"

Angel let out his unneeded breath, "Both!"

"Fair enough… Armory?"

"Yeah!" The vampires adjourned down the stairs to the training section of the hotel. 

When they got to the bottom of the stairs Angel swiftly punched Spike in the jaw. "Hey now… I said nothing of surprise attacks," Spike said quickly defending himself. Angel took another swing at him. "Mate… What's up?" Angel said nothing and kept attacking Spike who just kept blocking.

"Fight back!" Angel finally hissed.

"Why? I have no beef with you… This is for you, not me," Spike said in William's voice.

"Damn it! I don't need him right now. I need my childe…that took my lover…" he groaned out between kicks and punches, "that claimed her… and created a child with her." The last words were an animalistic growl. 

Spike had gotten closer to the punching bag attempting to draw Angel's fire to the bag. On a particularly hard swing Angel shouted, "How could they do that to me?" and his hand connected with the bag breaking the skin. "I hate myself for what I did…while I was him… And they set it up!" he heaved the words and air into and out of his lungs as he sunk to the floor.

Sitting down beside his sire Spike sighed, "You can't change the past… That other crap you just said about Buffy isn't it… You know that, right?"

"It's part of it… I hated Riley," Angel said shaking his head.

"That makes two of us," Spike smirked at him.

Angel laughed, "But you… I left so she could have normal…but I hated her with Normal. I really want to hate you worse then him…I hate the fact that Dawn was right about so many things. I hate that I couldn't love her the way she needed to be loved. And I can't help being jealous…She was my sunshine."

Spike gave Angel a sideways glance, "And _that_ is why you loved her. But you didn't love _her,_ Angel. You wanted her to dance in the sun and not be part of the darkness, but she is and she always will be. Riley couldn't take the part of her that was the Slayer and really neither could you. You both wanted to save her from that part of herself. But Angel it is a part of her…I don't try to divide Buffy from the Slayer."

"And that is why I can't kill you nor would I really try…" Angel sighed.

"Look at what you have. You have a woman who loves you despite the insecurities she harbors toward Buffy, which you aren't doing a whole hell of a lot to alleviate. She is a great mom to your baby boy. You have a company where you work directly for the Powers that Be rather then dealing with the monsters that drift in and out of the Hellmouth. You have friends who care about you… Angel you have a life here. Sunnydale held much more pain for you then happiness. And please don't deny that even as much as you loved Buffy that when you think about it now there isn't a dull ache in your chest that is almost too much to bare," William said softly.

Angel swallowed and nodded eyes cast down. "I just don't know if I can watch you marry her…that was my most human dream. Losing that… I know what I have here is the best I can hope for and far more then I deserve."

Spike got a small smile, "You have new dreams…I know you do. And they all involve the seer and your son. To me that seems much more human and more realistic… You don't lose the human side of yourself if I marry Buffy. That is just a lie the Angelus is telling you to get you to fight me or Buffy."

"Why have you become insightful?"

"I watch too much TV."

            Buffy felt two arms slide around her belly that had yet to show evidence that there was a child growing there. "Come here," Spike said tugging her back to him. He placed a small kiss on the inside of her neck and whispered, "Time to make you mine forever." She turned around in his arms stunned to be greeted with Spike's demon vestige and bright yellow eyes. She was terrified as he bit down violently on her neck and drank deeply. 

TBC…


	23. Fear

Title: Fear

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            Buffy gasped loudly throwing her head back and reaching for her neck. "Buffy!" Willow called. "Buffy…" Buffy puddled on the floor passed out. 

            "What happened?" Spike asked fearful rushing to her side, having just walked up the stairs to the lobby. 

            "Haven't a clue," Willow contended. "We were standing here reading and she leaned on the desk saying her eyes hurt. She gasped, grabbed her throat and fell to the ground."

            Spike slid into game face and promptly picked Gabriel up by the throat and pinned him to the closest wall. "GET OUT OF HER HEAD OLD MAN!!!" he screeched. "I have no qualms about killing you!"

            "Don't!" Wolf jolted more awake by the goings on.

            "I am not in her mind," Gabriel gasped seeing the hatred in the vampire's eyes despite the soul. 

            "You're lying!"

            "On the lives of my congregation I am not," the Father swore. 

            "Than who is?" Spike ground out.

            "I do not know."

Spike threw the priest at Angel. "Watch him," he snarled. Angel nodded. 

Spike gathered Buffy into his arms. He reached through what was left of the claim to Buffy's mind. There before him was the scene Buffy was experiencing. Her eyes were nearly rolled back as the other Spike was draining her. "Buffy!" he called to her. "Buffy!" 

She moved her eyes slowly. "This isn't real, luv," he soothed from a far. She would have to trust and believe him to make the creature stop. "You're in a heap on the floor of the Hyperion. Someone is in your mind. You know I would never do this to you." Buffy's eyes began to focus on the Spike who was being comforting. "Do you honestly think William would allow me to do such a think to the mother of my child?"

"William," she mouthed slowly. Soon she realized she didn't feel like she had been drained. She didn't feel weak…she felt strong. Buffy pushed with all her might the creature draining her. She glared at him defiantly no longer seeing Spike completely but something dark and invasive. 

"You're worst fear, pet," it whispered in Spike's voice. "What does that say about your love?"

"That it's been a month since this relationship really started. Some thoughts die hard… some things too!" she said as a stake appeared in her hand just as she dusted the imposter. She watched it explode as it began to cackle. 

Spike smirked and clapped like he did the first night he met her, "Nice job, luv."

Both Spike and Buffy opened their eyes in the real world. "Nice job, luv," he whispered to her before he kissed her lightly. Buffy began to cry. Tears started to stream down her face. Spike kissed each tear at the top her cheek. "I got you…"

"It felt so real," she whimpered in his ear. "If you hadn't come…what would have happened?"

"It doesn't matter, pet," he said clenching his eyes shut. 

"Yes it does…" she said strong and confident. "What would have happened?"

"You'd have gone into a coma," he whispered. "It would have been an eternal hell of me drinking from you and you never quite dying." He couldn't find his voice after that in tears at the thought.

"I'm sorry…" Buffy cried.

"For what?"

"For not being able to push the thought away," she whispered.

"Look at me," he commanded. She met his eyes, "A few years ago your worst fear was being bitten and drowned by the Master. You told me you dreamed the Master tried to kill you in the form of Giles. Then the fear was Druscilla would kill Angel. Later it was Angelus sucking you dry and turning you. That was a real fear because you loved him so much. Last year your worst fear would have been to see Glory kill Dawn. It's always bound up in the thoughts of someone you love being hurt or hurting you. That's everyone's worst fear baby."

Buffy leaned forward onto Spike's chin. He kissed her forehead and cuddled her to him. "You knew I couldn't do that to you the moment you saw me. It took a few seconds to give you the strength to push it away… I'd have been hurt if you didn't believe me and it took a long time to convince you… I love you and you know I love you." 

She nodded. "I love you too."

Spike smiled, "So lets try to find out who did this, okay?" She nodded again.

Spike stood and raised Buffy to her feet. He let Willow lead her back to Wesley's office. Spike turned back to Angel and Gabriel. "Did he react?"

Angel shook his head. "If it had been him, there would have been some movement or shutter. It wasn't him." Angel glared at the priest, "But I'm not convinced he doesn't know more then he's saying."

Father Gabriel looked at both vampires. "Gentlemen… I would not be so stupid to not tell you if I knew what happened to your dear slayer. I can only imagine the forces wanting to kill the child are looking for the easiest way to kill the mother."

Spike and Angel closed in on the man a little more. "And who would these forces be…who do you know that could pull this off?" Spike snipped.

Angel thought for a second, "You always refer to Buffy not as the slayer but our dear slayer. Why?" Spike blinked a few times as did Gabriel who began to gape. "What have you done to the other slayer?" Angel snarled.

"Nothing!" Gabriel said with great fear. "But wouldn't it make a lot of sense for the council to kill the other slayer so they could train another girl. Then they would have a slayer they could control… Wouldn't she be the perfect person to take the baby?"

"How do you know this?" Spike snarled.

"I don't… I've had someone on the inside leaking information to me for a while… I understand the way they work. They were ready to kill her a few years ago. I know she'll be dead in the next six months just for logistics of the birth."

"Okay new plan… Get Faith out of prison and protect her and Buffy with everything we have," Spike said to Angel. 

"Good plan… Sundown we start the outing part," the older vampire responded. Gabriel sighed a breath of relief. "Don't get too comfortable old man…we still need to know who could invade Buffy's mind."

"It would have to be someone close," Tara said absently as she walked by. 

Spike spun around, "Why?"

"It would have to be an incredibly strong witch or warlock to tap into Buffy's mind and use images from her life against her… Or its someone who can reach across the bridge like you did earlier," she answered.

"Bloody Hell!" Spike swore.

"What?" Angel asked.

"When I was in the Nothing I tried to reach out with my mind so I could get help. I finally got through with Connor… But I did get some recognition from Dru; she just didn't want to help… That's who did this…Druscilla," Spike said biting the inside of his mouth. "She would have no problem picking my brain for what was happening with me. With the claim she could have easily reached across me to Buffy."

"What's going on?" Buffy said shakily reentering the room. 

"I think Dru's the one that messed with your mind. She's done it before…sort of. When I was in the Nothing…"

"…You tapped into her which then tapped into me," Buffy said as Spike nodded in agreement.

Angel cleared his throat, "Gabriel thinks that Faith is probably endanger too. Kill the slayer a new one is called."

"And if she's anything like Kendra willing to follow orders to the tee, like take our baby," she said tracking with the line of reasoning. 

Dawn raised her hand like she was in school; "Tell me why I'm awake for this?"

"Oh…Oh right… Well?" Buffy said looking at Spike.

"Now that I know he's not trying to take the baby or screw with your brain I'm up for it," he responded. 

"Do I have to be here?" Angel whispered to Spike. 

"No… If you want to fry yourself in the afternoon light, go ahead. Otherwise you're stuck in the hotel," Spike answered. "Ya want to have me ready to help with Faith tonight or not?"

"I hate this…"

"I know…Go be with Cordy and your son. I promise it will hurt less. Who knows maybe Cordy would be up for a double ceremony."

"I think not… In the last few hours I've bitten her, nearly eaten my son, stake claimed on an ex-lover, and had her slam a door in my face. I don't think purposing marriage is what I need to do."

Spike smirked, "Suit yourself… At least you know a good priest now."

"Shut up!" Angel quietly barked.

"Are you two done with the whispers, cause it's creeping me out?" Cordelia said from a few feet away. 

The vampires looked at one another and realized how closed they were standing. Each quickly jumped back and headed for their own woman. "Coming dear," Angel said sauntering up to the prom queen. 

"Shut up!"

"Once again with the 'why am I awake?'" Dawn asked.

"Buffy and I are getting married," Spike announced.

"You're already married," she said sleepily.

"No…married married not vampire married," Buffy corrected.

All eyes shot up in the lobby. "I'm sorry, I misheard that," Xander said. "I could of sworn in the midst of that 'married' statement you said something about actually getting married."

"We did whelp," Spike snapped.

"Why?" Xander asked Buffy.

"Hey!" Spike fussed. "I'm a right good catch." Angel started to laugh. "Don't start Peaches."

"Sorry," he smirked at his childe. "Ego bruises so easily," Angel whispered to Cordy.

"Like you're one to talk. Xander calls Spike Dead Boy and you get all possessive. What's up with that?" Cordelia answered. Angel simply rubbed the tip of his nose to hers and kissed her lips lightly. 

Everyone still looked pretty weary of the announcement. "Look…everyone we love and would want at the wedding is already here except Giles," Buffy said plainly. "No 'keeping up with the Jones.' We want to get married and we've talked about it before. We have the chance now. With the baby and the impending doom, it just makes sense."

"What impending doom?" Willow asked. 

Spike and Angel looked at each other. "The prophecy you are looking for would validate some things Gabriel has told us. If it's true then the Council is a little more evil then we thought and they will try to take Hope… We're already on Druscilla's radar and who knows about the rest of the demon and vampire community," Buffy explained. "Look guys you've been on board with us so far…Just stick with us," she pled. 

Xander walked up to her and put her arm in his. "I think since Giles isn't here I get to walk you down the aisle." Buffy smiled through tears at her friend. 

"Thank you."

Spike whistled, "Wolf."

"Yeah?"

"Come stand beside me…Nibblet you stand across from him," Spike instructed. 

All eyes turned to Gabriel who shook himself a little. "You're not going to keep threatening to kill me are you?" he asked Spike.

"As long as you don't give me reason to," he responded.

"Fair enough… Here we go," the father said as Xander led Buffy forward. The lobby quieted for another absolutely bizarre twist of Fate for the day.

TBC…


	24. The Prophecy

Title: Prophecy

Name: Joy        

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

"They're going to be up there for a while right?" Xander asked after the ceremony was finished. Spike had carried Buffy up to their room. "I mean we aren't going to hear them?"

            "Sound proof room," Cordy said simply looking through one of the watcher's diaries. "They'll have definitely conceived a child at the end of this round."

            "I don't need to think about that," Dawn said sleepily. "Call us when you need us," she said taking Wolf by the hand. 

            "They're going to be…" Xander began to say.

            "Yes, Xander their going to be upstairs for a while," Willow sighed. "They will probably be having sex too. We can't stop them because they got hitched today. This should be their honeymoon…. I still haven't figured out what we're going to tell Social Services."

            "It should be a non-issue since she had the legal permission of her guardian to get married," Fred said simply. "They can't take her away, because in the eyes of the law she's now an adult."

            "You know everything about everything, don't you?" Gunn said with a smile.

            "Hey, Hey, Hey… No flirting near the books…" Xander said annoyed. "…Or near tired people who aren't getting any right now."

            "Oh… We could all take a sex break," Anya offered. The LA group just looked at each other dumbly. "You guys could have a three-way," she said to Wesley, Gunn, and Fred. 

            "Anya!" a general cry of disgust went up.

            "We'll be back in a few," Xander said dragging Anya from the room muttering about appropriate statements. The group tried to settle back down which was soon disturbed by the sound the shower starting and rhythmic thumping.

            "Damn… What is it with you people and showers?" Gunn demanded. Willow shook her head.

"I think I found it," Tara said suddenly. She looked at Angel for confirmation; "The watcher writes that a second century monk was receiving visions of something called a Nephilim?"

            Angel spun around to look at Father Gabriel who was merely waiting his fate amongst the strange band of friends. "You never did explain that part," the vampire said.

            "Let her read to you what he wrote… Confirm I spoke the truth."

            Tara nodded and continued. "The watcher translated the vision as best he could. It was a very specific Nephilim. All the images were that of the Old Testament. It took the watcher a long time to realize that the reference to The Sons of God, in the churches mind were Fallen Angels, since no heavenly being would have intercourse with a human since it was against the laws of God. He then realized that all 'Fallen Angels' were either demons or vampires since the monk would have no other reference for evil. So a demon or vampire would sleep with a human and get her pregnant."

She continued, "However the monk was specific in his description of the mother. She would be cut down in a battle with a powerful fallen angel but rise to defeat him. She would be stronger then any man of earth and possess the will that would rival God's. She would be a champion among the people but be unseen by them."

Tara looked Angel in the eye afraid to continue. He simply nodded at her. She spoke, "The text then says, 'And in the day when demons have souls and women dance with death so shall a Nephilim be brought forth. As in days of old she will be known of great and terrible renowned. She will possess all that is an angel and all that is a devil, and she will cut down many in her countless years. Unknown in shape and form, she will rule over their minds and bring bliss in her bite. And blood will sustain her. She will walk in the darkness and the light but be swallowed by neither.'"

Angel looked at Gabriel but addressed Tara, "What does the Watcher write in response to the prophecy?"

"He doesn't really… He doesn't seem to think it is a prophecy. He believes it was something obverted. Something that was meant to be but didn't happen."

"He believes his own slayer was to be the mother and was now dead," Wesley commented.

"There is a reference though of a personal journal… Do you have it?" Tara asked.

"Yes but I didn't look at it very well…" Wesley answered only to have the book yanked from his hand by the blond witch. 

She compared the dates and found what she was looking for. "There is a dhampire population in Romania that is left untouched by the Council. I finally found out why. These dhampires hunt vampires for survival. They are dangerous to both vampires and man so they have chosen the side of man. But there is also the hope by the council to find the 'Nephilim' amongst them. I do not think the Council will be satisfied until they find it. If I tell them my findings I am sure more dhampires will be born at their hands. I am beginning to wonder if that was not their intention all along and my slayer paid with her life for it…" 

Tara flipped a few pages, "Oh my…"

"What's wrong?" Angel asked quickly.

"The watcher changed his mind…He knew about Spike…mentions him by name," she said in bewildered fear. "His entire vampiric existence has been rigged."

"What are you talking about?" Angel snapped. "I was there, remember? He was random…"

"No he wasn't… According to this he found writings from a Watcher in the late 1880's. It mentions the prophecy about the seventh of seven. It's not a legend really, but more a demonic curse. The entire seventh generation had a first-born male and each was turned. The watcher knew it was going to happen to Spike eventually, so he just waited until he was turned. The records they have of Spike's activity are beyond most vampires. They maneuvered a slayer into his path hoping for some connection but he merely killed her…"

"What do you want to bet they sent the Slayer in New York he killed to him for another try at it?" Cordelia said quite annoyed. 

"But they didn't send him to Buffy. They sent me," Angel argued.  
            "Whom he needed to make Dru better," Cordy reminded him. "Once again sending Spike back into the potential arms of the slayer."

"They tried to fulfill the prophecy with other vampires but Spike was always the odds on favorite to get it done," Willow said sadly. 

"So Angelus?" Gabriel said in his thick accent. "I am to be believed now?"

Angel glared. "When Buffy and Spike are done with the ritual I'll tell them you've been forthcoming."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike lit candles all around the room and turned on soft music in the background. Buffy lay back on the bed waiting for him to join her. He crawled up her body as he got on the bed. "This time luv… I'll take the lead." Buffy nodded obediently. She screwed up last time. This time she would let him make it perfect. 

            He stroked her cheek lightly. "This will probably be a little different now that William is joining us… Hopefully he'll still let me play rough when you want to," he whispered as he stroked his fingers down her neck and into her shirt. Buffy whimpered softly. "Like that?" She nodded and bit her lip. "Good."

            Spike swiftly removed Buffy's top and feasted on the tops of her breasts. He nuzzled her chest, pulling her bra down enough to latch on to her nipple. Buffy stroked Spike's hair with her fingers. "That feels so good…" she gasped as he lightly nipped at the tip of her nipple in his mouth. 

He continued to distract her as he unbuttoned her pants. Buffy keened, racking her fingers down Spike's back as she squirmed under his touch. "Am I really supposed to just lie back and take it?" Buffy whimpered while Spike's fingers continued to play against her over sensitized flesh. 

"You know it baby," he smirked against her stomach as he kissed his way down her body. 

She mewed as he got to his destination. "Aren't…aren't you supposed to suck me?" The high-pitched squeal she made was hard on the ears. "I…I…meant…Oh god…my neck…Oh…. Ahhh…"

"Later…" he whispered against her flesh just before he caused her to begin to swear in ecstasy. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wesley and Tara went about coping the important pages from the journals. Angel observed Xander return from the bedroom he had been using a few minutes prior. "Will?" Xander tapped Willow on the shoulder. They talked about all that had been discovered while he was at play.

"I think its time for Anya & I to leave. No one is watching Sunnydale at the moment. And judging by what's been happening here we may be swarmed with the Council," he said trying to make it sound important for Anya and he to leave. 

"What about the Wolves?" she asked.

"I will be going before them for you," Gabriel said standing proudly. 

"Call us if there's anything going on. Tara and I will stay here but I think we'll be heading back as soon as we can. I don't like the Hellmouth unprotected anymore then you do," Willow said. "I'm going to try to convince Buffy we need to leave soon, just for safety sake."

"What about Faith?" Cordy asked.

"Huh?" Xander and Willow asked at once.

"We'll worry about her tonight," Angel said simply. "She may stay here with us for protection rather then heading to Sunnydale."

"Great…protect a slayer. I know how that goes…" Cordelia shook her head. 

"I'm ready," Anya announced dropping her bag on the floor. "Say goodbye to the Summers for us, since we don't know when they'll stop having sex."

Willow shook her head. "Sure Anya… Bye Xander," she said hugging him. Goodbyes were past around and the couple headed home. 

"Angelus…" Gabriel addressed the vampire. "I suggest you and I present the young Ulrich's situation to the elders. I believe they will understand."

"Fine… But stop calling my Angelus. Angel," he corrected the Father. 

"Yes… We should make way."

"Fine… Fred please come with. If they have any questions about Wolf's…condition…with the wings…you're the best person to explain," Angel asked. She nodded. "We'll have to take the Desoto so I won't get toasted."

"I will drive," Gabriel informed him. 

"Fine."

When the three had left Cordelia said, "Does anyone else get the feeling the Wolves are the least of our worries now?"

Willow raised her eyebrows, "Safe assumption. Then again we may get a whole army of Calebs rather then just one."

"Come on guys…Finish up so we can start planning," Cordy mumbled at the ceiling. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike and Buffy made love very slowly, touching gently and kissing passionately. Buffy was vaguely aware that things were different then before. If it were possible to say William was beginning to love her as Spike did. Buffy looked into his eyes and saw William there just beneath the surface. "Love me, William," she whispered. 

The sweat on Spike's face glistened and his breath became even more haggard. He groaned, "You're… gonna… push me… over… the edge… saying… things… like that." 

She kissed his forehead. "Let's do the ritual," she whispered.

He continued to move slowly in and out and kissed her lightly. He bit her neck drinking deeply so things would move quickly once he started to speak the words. Buffy and he were both barely containing their own releases.

They locked eyes. "You are mine," he whispered so intensely her womb clenched. "Stop that pet or I'm not going to make it." She giggled a little and held him close before they began again. "You are mine. None before…None after. Mine in body, mind, and spirit." He bit down again on the wound he made earlier.

Spike savagely bit his wrist and gave it to a teetering Buffy. "Blood of my blood… Be in me… Drink me in…my love…my mate." With that he bit a third time into Buffy's flesh this time while moving inside her. She sucked hard on Spike's wrist as her womb began to quake. 

All voluntary motion but the swallowing of blood stopped. Their bodies fell over the edge together quaking and shaking with unrivalled pleasure. They just road the feeling peacefully, not pushing for any more sensation. 

 When Buffy opened her eyes again she saw stars swimming in her line of sight and her body was still quivering. She could hear Spike panting and moaning on top of her. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Still…cumming," he groaned. "God… You just keep milking me…" She smiled and kissed his neck as she internally clenched him. "Ahhh… Pet please… I'm begging… stop…" Buffy just stroked his back and kissed his throat. 

She smirked but then noticed that they were surrounded by translucent beings running their hands over the air the way the leader hand run his hands over Cordelia's body to heal her. It became suddenly so clear. Everything that had happened that day had led to that moment. The beings were making sure Hope was conceived and protected. 

The End. 

Third in the series: Conception. First chapter is up now.


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